María Fernanda Cardinal, is a full-time researcher of CONICET and a part-time adjunct professor at the Nanosystems Institute of the National University of San Martin in Argentina.

Fernanda´s research focused on the synthesis and functionalization of nanoparticles for catalytic, sensing and medical applications. Her research interests include: the application of spectroscopic techniques to monitor catalytic reactions and detect contaminants, the ability to correlate molecular structural information with macroscopic observables in nanomaterials, and the study of colloidal systems for photothermal therapy of lung cancer. Her academic interest include: lecturing in nanotechnology and chemistry at public and private institutions, and the development of affordable educational kits to reach Argentine high schools at impoverished areas or with insufficient funding for STEM disciplines.

Fernanda obtained a Bachelor degree in Chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires in 2005, Argentina; and a PhD degree from the University of Vigo, Spain in 2012. Her thesis work focused on studying the optical properties, synthesis and functionalization methods of metallic nanoparticles. Prior to her return to Argentina, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the group of Prof. Richard P. Van Duyne from the Chemistry Department at Northwestern University, USA where she learnt and became passionate about surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.