Gulnar Azevedo is the Rector of the Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ) elected for the period 2024-2027. She graduated in medicine and has a Masters in public health from UERJ, with a residency and PhD in preventive medicine from the University of São Paulo (USP). She is a full professor at the Institute of Social Medicine Hesio Cordeiro and Procientista at UERJ. She was prevention coordinator at the National Cancer Institute (Inca), Brazil. She develops research on the epidemiology of chronic non-communicable diseases, with an emphasis on epidemiology applied to the evaluation of cancer prevention and control policies.

Azevedo is a productivity fellow at National Council for Scientific and Technological Development and the Scientists from Our State Programme at Support Foundation for Research of Rio de Janeiro State. She is part of the steering committee of the Global Cancer Survival Surveillance Programme (CONCORD), led by the London School of Hygiene Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). She was President of the Brazilian Public Health Association (Abrasco, 2018-2021). Azevedo was also winner of the 3rd Carolina Bori Science and Women Award, in the area of biologicals and health, awarded in 2022 by the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science.