Dr. María Guadalupe Casales Hernández serves as an Associate Professor-Researcher in the Department of Health Care at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Xochimilco and holds current Candidate status in Mexico's National System of Researchers (SNII). She holds a Bachelor's degree in Nursing and Obstetrics and a Specialist degree in Gerontological Nursing from UNAM's National School of Nursing and Obstetrics, alongside Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Sociomedical Sciences with a concentration in Health Management and Policy from UNAM's Faculty of Medicine. She is currently undertaking a postdoctoral fellowship in the Graduate Program in Nursing at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil, focusing on Advanced Practice Nursing (APN), Primary Health Care, and nursing care management.

Her research framework is directed toward strengthening the nursing workforce, implementing and evaluating advanced practice roles, caring for individuals with chronic conditions, ageing, and transforming health systems. Key research contributions include identifying facilitators and barriers to implementing expanded nursing roles in Mexico, synthesizing evidence on APN implementation, co-authoring a context-specific domain and competency framework for Mexico and Latin America, and participating in international studies on working conditions, mental health, violence, and stigma among nursing personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, she evaluated the cost-effectiveness of a multidisciplinary diabetes care model, analyzed information system barriers for the HEARTS initiative in Mexico, and served on the development team for the second edition of the Nursing Care Model for Mexico's National Health System.

She leads the Mexico Node of the Latin American Advanced Practice Nursing Network, serves as Coordinator for Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean for U-Nursing LatAm, and chairs the Competency Management Committee for Health Care within the CONOCER-SEP network. She coordinates national and international research projects on advanced practice, professional competencies, working conditions, and health outcomes. Additionally, she contributes to researcher training through thesis supervision, serves as a scientific peer reviewer and academic evaluator, and disseminates her scholarly work through books, book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, and international conference presentations.