Ana M. Urbano, D. Phil, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, and a Senior Scientist at the Molecular Physical Chemistry Research Unit of the same university. She is currently teaching courses on Biochemistry, Physical Chemistry and Laboratorial Biochemistry. She graduated in Biochemistry at the University of Coimbra (1989), where she later gained her MSc in Cell Biology (1993). Part of her MSc research was conducted, as an Erasmus student, at Delft Technical University. She then received a D. Phil from the University Cambridge, UK (1999), where she conducted research on mammalian cell bioenergetics. Her main research interest are the molecular and cellular mechanisms of carcinogenesis, with a special emphasis on bioenergetics. Her group has been investigating the impact of hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] on the energy metabolism of human lung cells and on their resistance to stress, aiming at a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the toxicity of this occupational lung carcinogen. Other research interests include the mechanisms by which exercise contributes to cancer prevention and improved management. Her strong interest in (onco)metabolism led her to (co)organise the 16th Charles Heidelberger Symposium on Cancer Research (2010), two editions (2017 and 2019) of a FEBS Advanced Lecture Course devoted to oncometabolism and MAC 2023 - Mitochondria in Apoptosis, Cancer and Cell Death. Ana Urbano has supervised 19 graduation projects and 16 MSc/PhD theses (11 completed), (co)authored 25+ peer-reviewed research papers/reviews/book chapters. She has also co-edited two special issue for Biochimica Biophysica Acta-Molecular Basis of Disease (Oncometabolism: The Switchboard of Cancer; Mitochondria in Aging, Cancer and Cell Death). She has also been an ad-hoc reviewer for 15 different scientific journals and 1 funding agency.