Dr. Verdu received an MD degree and trained in Internal Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires. She received further training in Gastroenterology and Clinical Research at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. She earned a doctoral degree in Human Physiology for her thesis on the interaction between chronic H. pylori infection and inhibition of gastric acid secretion under the direction of Prof. Andre Blum. She then undertook PhD studies in Microbiology and Gnotobiology at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, where she investigated the role of commensal bacterial sonicates in the modulation of experimental colitis, under the supervision of Prof. Helena Tlaskaova. Her post-doctoral training with Prof. Stephen Collins at McMaster University focussed on the role of probiotic bacteria in mouse models of gut dysfunction. In 2006 she became Assistant Professor at McMaster University, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2011, and to full Professor in 2018. She directed the Axenic Gnotobiotic Unit, first established by Prof. Andrew Macpherson at McMaster University, from 2010 to 2024.