Ana Soares is a full Professor of Biotechnology Engineering at Cranfield Water Science Institute, Cranfield University, UK. She is an IWA Fellow and leads the Resource Recovery Community of Practice at Cranfield University. Her research focuses on the behaviour and manipulation of bacterial communities under dynamic conditions, leading to new technologies, process optimisation and valuable product recovery. Her research is applied in municipal as well as industrial wastewater, proposing innovative and economically feasible solutions to produce high quality effluents and resource recovery. Her scientific findings have resulted in leading-edge processes and technological innovations that contribute, worldwide, to sustainable solutions for effluent treatment. She is particularly successful in bridging the gap between science and application, working in close collaboration with industry partners leading the water sector. In February 2024, she received the prestigious OFWAT Discovery Challenge Award for her breakthrough and innovation on phosphorus removal and recovery from wastewater using bio-mineral forming microorganisms. She has published over 80 peer review publications that have received over 5500 citations. Professor Soares is an active member of various national and international committees, chair of the IWA Resource Recovery Cluster and the prominent IWA Leading Edge Conference series. She is the Editor in Chief for the Water and Environment Journal and she was an Associate Editor for Water Research.