Mildred-Maria Reyes graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Commonwealth Honors College with a dual degree, earning a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a B.A. in Spanish Studies. As an undergraduate, she was selected as a Research Scholar through the Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment Summer Scholars Program, where she investigated plant development and stress responses in Arabidopsis thaliana using molecular and genetic approaches. Through this research, she developed an interest in understanding how molecular pathways regulate biological function across diverse systems.

 Through her early experiences as a medical assistant and medical interpreter, she became interested in how chronic disease is shaped not only by biology but also by environmental and social factors. These experiences motivated her interest in understanding how host-microbiome interactions influence metabolism and contribute to obesity and other metabolic diseases. Since 2022, she has been working as a research assistant at Boston Children's Hospital under the mentorship of Dr. Jason Zhang. Her research focuses on understanding the endogenous production of the hormone GLP-1 by enteroendocrine cells and how host-microbiome interactions regulate hormone secretion and metabolic function. Using molecular approaches to investigate enteroendocrine cell biology, she aims to better understand the mechanisms underlying obesity and metabolic disease.