I am an Environmental Microbiologist group leader (Ramon y Cajal) at the University of Seville. My current research focuses on the study of type VI bacterial secretion system (T6SS) and extracelular membrane vesicles (EMVs/T0SS) of agricultural-plant-associated bacteria. As a PhD student, I studied membrane lipids in Pseudomonas putida in response to abiotic stresses. My studies were published in recognised journals (Curr Opin Biotechnol, Environ Microbiol, Appl Environ Microbiol, Microb Biotech). Due to my interest in bacterial cell envelope, I moved to UCL (UK) as a postdoctoral researcher to study the effect of catechins on Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, a human pathogen resistant to most antibiotics. Catechins sensitising MRSA to β-lactam drugs. Since β-lactams act on the bacterial cell envelope, I determined the effect of catechins on the cell wall architecture (J Antimicrob Chemother). I found that catechins change the physical properties of the cell wall by delocalising the complex involved in the synthesis of peptidoglycan (J Biol Chem). I investigated the impact of catechins on the expression profile of MRSA strains (PLoS ONE). My interest in environmental microbiology brought me back to Spain to focus on the postgenomic functional characterization of P. putida. I studied the adhesion determinants used by P. putida to attach to surfaces (Environ Microbiol) and participated in the genome sequencing of a P. putida clinical isolate (Genome Announc). Importantly, I started and continued at Imperial College London, the research line that marked my independent career, the characterisation of T6SS in plant-associated species (ISME J, PNAS, Scientific Report). As an expert in T6SS, I have been invited to write three reviews for Environ Microbiol, Cell Microbiol and Microbiology. I have co-authored Highlights, Opinion, Research and editorial papers for Trend in Microbiol, eLife, Commun Biol, Microb Biotech, and Environ Microbiol with a total of 37 WoS publications cited 1249 times. During my career, I have become a specialist on Molecular Microbiology, Genetics, and Biochemistry combined with other expertise including physiological studies, regulatory studies, and microscopy on a multidisciplinary portfolio. I have developed my career in prestigious Research Centres (CSIC, ITQB) and Universities (University College London, Imperial College London, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Universidad de Sevilla, US). I have an extensive network of collaborators in America (USA) and Europe (UK, Spain) developed over 8 years working at leading international institutions. I have been self-funded most of my career through competitive fellowships: 2 CSIC fellowships (I3P), EMBO short-term fellowship, 3 postdoctoral fellowships (Talent Hub, Marie Curie, InterTalentum) and 2 junior PI contracts (JIN and Ramon y Cajal). As a junior PI, I have funded my lab through a 'Retos de la Sociedad' grant, a FEDER grant (Junta Andalucía), an 'Atracción de Talento' grant (Plan Propio de la US), a Leonardo grant (BBVA Foundation). In the period between 2021 and 2023, I have been awarded a “Generación Conocimiento” grant (Plan Nacional), an Ecological and Digital Transition grant (TED), an Excellence Grant (Junta Andalucía) and a Consolidator Grant (Spanish State Agency). I was awarded the I3 research excellence certificate in 2019.
I have been actively involved in outreach events including Science Week, Imperial Festival, Native Scientist, school visits, Radio (Ciencia Clandestina), blog writing (SRUK, Biochemical Society, La cuadratura del Círculo), Talk in Pubs, activities for the International Day of Women and Girl in Science and the International Microbiology Literacy Initiative (IMiLI).
I have been a guest editor in 2 special issues in Environ Microbiol (2021) and 2 special issues in Microbial Biotechnology (2023) and joined the editorial board of Microbial Biotechnology in 2021. I have been the Director of the Wo/Men Equity and Research committee of SRUK and the coordinator enrolment manager at Native Scientist for 2 years. I have experience as a communication manager (CMIB, ICL) and currently, I am the web manager and secretary for the Plant Microbiology group (MiP-SEM) and the Twitter account manager for Microb Biotech J. I contribute to the scientific community by reviewing articles with a total of 63 verified peer reviews on Publons for Nature Microbiology, Nature Communications, ISME, Biofilms & Microbiomes, Cell Reports, BMC Genomic, Molecular Systems Biology, mSystems and Microbial Biotechnology among others; and projects/fellowships for BARD (USA-Israel), Daphne Jackson (UK), MSCA and Doctoral Network (European Commission), ANEP (Spain), Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), French National Research Agency (ANR) and National Science Foundation (USA). I have supervised many students including 7 undergraduates, 5 masters, 2 Erasmus students, 3 technicians, a visiting student and 2 PhD students.
I am an Environmental Microbiologist group leader (Ramon y Cajal) at the University of Seville. My current research focuses on the study of type VI bacterial secretion system (T6SS) and extracelular membrane vesicles (EMVs/T0SS) of agricultural-plant-associated bacteria. As a PhD student, I studied membrane lipids in Pseudomonas putida in response to abiotic stresses. My studies were published in recognised journals (Curr Opin Biotechnol, Environ Microbiol, Appl Environ Microbiol, Microb Biotech). Due to my interest in bacterial cell envelope, I moved to UCL (UK) as a postdoctoral researcher to study the effect of catechins on Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, a human pathogen resistant to most antibiotics. Catechins sensitising MRSA to β-lactam drugs. Since β-lactams act on the bacterial cell envelope, I determined the effect of catechins on the cell wall architecture (J Antimicrob Chemother). I found that catechins change the physical properties of the cell wall by delocalising the complex involved in the synthesis of peptidoglycan (J Biol Chem). I investigated the impact of catechins on the expression profile of MRSA strains (PLoS ONE). My interest in environmental microbiology brought me back to Spain to focus on the postgenomic functional characterization of P. putida. I studied the adhesion determinants used by P. putida to attach to surfaces (Environ Microbiol) and participated in the genome sequencing of a P. putida clinical isolate (Genome Announc). Importantly, I started and continued at Imperial College London, the research line that marked my independent career, the characterisation of T6SS in plant-associated species (ISME J, PNAS, Scientific Report). As an expert in T6SS, I have been invited to write three reviews for Environ Microbiol, Cell Microbiol and Microbiology. I have co-authored Highlights, Opinion, Research and editorial papers for Trend in Microbiol, eLife, Commun Biol, Microb Biotech, and Environ Microbiol with a total of 37 WoS publications cited 1249 times. During my career, I have become a specialist on Molecular Microbiology, Genetics, and Biochemistry combined with other expertise including physiological studies, regulatory studies, and microscopy on a multidisciplinary portfolio. I have developed my career in prestigious Research Centres (CSIC, ITQB) and Universities (University College London, Imperial College London, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Universidad de Sevilla, US). I have an extensive network of collaborators in America (USA) and Europe (UK, Spain) developed over 8 years working at leading international institutions. I have been self-funded most of my career through competitive fellowships: 2 CSIC fellowships (I3P), EMBO short-term fellowship, 3 postdoctoral fellowships (Talent Hub, Marie Curie, InterTalentum) and 2 junior PI contracts (JIN and Ramon y Cajal). As a junior PI, I have funded my lab through a 'Retos de la Sociedad' grant, a FEDER grant (Junta Andalucía), an 'Atracción de Talento' grant (Plan Propio de la US), a Leonardo grant (BBVA Foundation). In the period between 2021 and 2023, I have been awarded a “Generación Conocimiento” grant (Plan Nacional), an Ecological and Digital Transition grant (TED), an Excellence Grant (Junta Andalucía) and a Consolidator Grant (Spanish State Agency). I was awarded the I3 research excellence certificate in 2019.
I have been actively involved in outreach events including Science Week, Imperial Festival, Native Scientist, school visits, Radio (Ciencia Clandestina), blog writing (SRUK, Biochemical Society, La cuadratura del Círculo), Talk in Pubs, activities for the International Day of Women and Girl in Science and the International Microbiology Literacy Initiative (IMiLI).
I have been a guest editor in 2 special issues in Environ Microbiol (2021) and 2 special issues in Microbial Biotechnology (2023) and joined the editorial board of Microbial Biotechnology in 2021. I have been the Director of the Wo/Men Equity and Research committee of SRUK and the coordinator enrolment manager at Native Scientist for 2 years. I have experience as a communication manager (CMIB, ICL) and currently, I am the web manager and secretary for the Plant Microbiology group (MiP-SEM) and the Twitter account manager for Microb Biotech J. I contribute to the scientific community by reviewing articles with a total of 63 verified peer reviews on Publons for Nature Microbiology, Nature Communications, ISME, Biofilms & Microbiomes, Cell Reports, BMC Genomic, Molecular Systems Biology, mSystems and Microbial Biotechnology among others; and projects/fellowships for BARD (USA-Israel), Daphne Jackson (UK), MSCA and Doctoral Network (European Commission), ANEP (Spain), Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), French National Research Agency (ANR) and National Science Foundation (USA). I have supervised many students including 7 undergraduates, 5 masters, 2 Erasmus students, 3 technicians, a visiting student and 2 PhD students.
