The 13 students who have completed the Master's Degree European University in Food, Nutrition and Metabolism (EMENU) of the School of Pharmacy and Nutrition have faced this week the final stretch of the program with the defense of the final works of Master's Degree. These are research projects carried out under the direction of a tutor and that, this year, have been developed in areas such as functional food, food safety, molecular nutrition, personalized nutrition or nutritional epidemiology.

Jimena Muñoz analyzed the clinical and dietary markers that could contribute to metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women. "My work basically consisted of analyzing the database of a sample of postmenopausal women to determine the metabolic phenotype they presented (healthy or unhealthy), related to metabolic syndrome. This allowed me to detect the variables (anthropometric, inflammatory and dietary intake) that influence postmenopausal women and to establish a association with the risk of metabolic syndrome," she explains. 

Due to the health crisis caused by Covid-19, the novelty this year was the format blended learning for defending the papers: some students did so at classroom, while others connected remotely via online. Similarly, the panels had two members at Campus in Pamplona and the rest evaluated the papers from home. This is the case of Jimena, who defended her work through the screen. "I practiced my presentation on different platforms to see if it looked and sounded good. Also, both my tutor and my colleagues from Master's Degree were there to give me suggestions."

However, Paola Elizabeth Gamez was able to perform an "al uso" presentation of her work, which consisted of evaluating the composition of the intestinal microbiota of mice to see the changes that occur with age, obesity and exercise. "The University made it easy for me to go to classroom in advance and with the financial aid of my tutor to test prior to the defense, while maintaining precautionary measures," he explains. "Undoubtedly, the most difficult part was not having my family and friends present, although they were able to join us through a virtual platform."