Brandan is Professor of Physics at Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). She holds a BSc from Universidad de Chile and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her research interests have been experimental heavy-ion physics (some years ago) and medical physics (more recently). Her present research focuses on thermoluminescent dosimetry for highly ionizing radiation and the physics of radiological images. Organizer of the UNAM MSc (Medical Physics) programme in 1997 was responsible for its academic guidance until 2017. She has received the 2000 UNAM Catedrático recognition, the 2003 Mexican Physics Society Award for the Development of Physics in Mexico and the 2013 UNAM Universidad Nacional Award for Research in Exact Sciences. Memberships include the Mexican Academy of Sciences, the American Physical Society (1997 Fellow of the Nuclear Physics Division), the Mexican Physics Society (past President of the Nuclear and Medical Physics Divisions), and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (2018 Fellow). María-Ester Brandan chaired the International Solid State Dosimetry Organization and is presently a commissioner of ICRU.