Maria Pilar Ballester is a Specialist in Gastroenterology and Hepatology and performs her medical activity at Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valencia, Spain. She performed a predoctoral stay at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, USA, under the supervision of Professor Ramón Bataller focused on alcoholic liver disease.
She obtained her PhD at University of Valencia in 2021 by studying the immune dysfunction associated with cognitive impairment in patients with cirrhosis, which was evaluated by Professor Manuel Romero, Vicente Felipo and Marina Berenguer. Her PhD was funded through a competitive grant in Spain (Rio Hortega) from Instituto de Salud Carlos III.
Soon after finishing, she performed a postdoctoral stay at University College London, United Kingdom, supervised by Professor Rajiv Jalan.
In London, she studied the role of ammonia in the pathogenesis and treatment of complications of cirrhosis, creating the Ammon Consortium, which currently includes 5 hospitals in Europe. In 2018, together with 3 other members, she founded the Young Group of the Spanish Association of  Gastroenterology in order to promote collaborative research among young specialists.

She is member of the Asociación Española para el Estudio del Hígado, the European Association for the Study of the Liver and the International Society of Hepatic Encephalopathy and Nitrogen Metabolism.