Dr. Ana Karina Medina Mendoza holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering with a specialization in Materials Chemistry. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from 1999 to 2004, developing the project entitled “Sulfur reduction in hydrocarbons using heteropolyacid-based catalysts supported on alumina, titania, and zirconia".

She completed her Master’s studies between 2005 and 2008 with the thesis “Development of mesoporous materials for their application in deep hydrodesulfurization of diesel fuels,” carried out at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana–Azcapotzalco in collaboration with the Center for Energy Research (UNAM), Temixco, Morelos.

From 2008 to 2013, she pursued her doctoral studies with the dissertation “Study of Pt (Pd) nanoparticle dispersion on mesoporous supports for hydrotreating reactions,” conducted at UAM-Azcapotzalco in collaboration with the Mexican Petroleum Institute.

She carried out a postdoctoral research stay from January 2014 to December 2015 with the project “Development of NiMo-based hydrotreating catalysts supported on mesoporous Al₂O₃".

Since 2016, she has been a full-time Professor-Researcher at UAM-Azcapotzalco, where she teaches courses in Kinetics and Catalysis, Structures and Properties of Materials, Atomic Structure and Chemical Bonding, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory I and II, Reaction Engineering Laboratory, and Introduction to Calculus.

She has participated in the project “Synthesis of solids and their catalytic evaluation in reactions for obtaining organic compounds with biological activity and/or corrosion inhibition of steels” within the Department of Basic Sciences. Additionally, in the Department of Energy, she has collaborated in the projects “Removal of contaminant precursors in fossil fuels using reduced noble metal nanocatalysts” and “Experimental production of biodiesel".

She is currently a member of the Area of Environmental Chemistry and Physicochemistry and belongs to the National System of Researchers (SNI), Level I.Dr. Medina Mendoza is the author of six peer-reviewed international journal articles, more than 40 refereed conference proceedings, and three patents. She has participated in numerous national and international conferences in Chemical Engineering and Catalysis, including the Mexican Congress of Catalysis, and is an active member of the Catalysis Academy and the North American Catalysis Society.

Her current research interests focus on the development of nanostructured materials as catalysts or adsorbents for the removal of contaminant precursors in fossil fuels, clean fuel production processes (biofuels and hydrogen), catalytic transformation of lignin into aromatic products, environmental problem-solving, kinetic modeling, and physicochemical characterization of materials.