Biography

After I finished my degree in Biology at the University of Alcalá (Madrid), I became interested in the complexity of viruses and their potential applications in society. To study the generation of new preventive tools against viral spreading I conducted my master’s thesis project (2016) at The Center for Animal Health Research (CISA-INIA/CSIC, Madrid). During this time, I generated recombinant proteins from the Ebola Virus and utilized them to develop ELISA-based diagnostic systems. Additionally, I contributed to the development of next-generation recombinant vaccines against bluetongue and African horse sickness viruses, leading to 3 research articles of which I am a co-author, and the presentation of findings at an international conference (2016).
At this stage, I wanted to expand my research towards the study of innate immune cells, the first responders upon an infection and the main restorers of homeostasis after an injury. I was granted a MINECO FPI fellowship (2017-21) and joined CIC bioGUNE, (Bizkaia, Spain), where I did my PhD Thesis (2017-2021). During my PhD thesis, my main goal was to study the long-term reprogramming of phagocytic cells as a consequence of a previous encounter with whole live bacteria. I was pioneer in exploring the role of innate immune memory in two different functional scenarios, a persistent infection, and gut homeostasis. I described the specific regulatory programs by addressing the functionality of innate immune cells, their transcriptional rewiring, and their metabolic output. Besides, I identified a transcription factor that governs the inflammatory output in memory macrophages during Lyme borreliosis, which has been issued a licensed patent (2022). In parallel, I also studied diet-derived phenolic compounds as potential immunomodulatory candidates to shape a protective microbiota against inflammatory bowel diseases and inflammatory infectious models. In this regard, I received two grants from the Gangoiti Foundation, presented my findings at an international congress in 2022, and am a co-first author of a manuscript recently published in Gut Microbes. After completing my PhD, I continued at CIC bioGUNE for 6 months in a postdoctoral training program, where I sought global transcriptomic traits that govern specific functional programs in peripheral phagocytes previously activated by bacterial symbionts or pathogens. My stay in CIC bioGUNE allowed me to collaborate with diverse national and international groups in multidisciplinary fields, including my active participation in the European consortium ANTIDotE (FP7), in which I expressed immunogenic tick proteins suitable to be used in vaccine formulations against tick bites. My collaborative work at CIC bioGUNE is reflected in my co-authorship of 24 publications, including 13 resulting from laboratory projects (3 first/co-first), 6 from national multidisciplinary collaborations, and 5 with the European ANTIDotE consortium. Additionally, I presented my results at national and international conferences and hold a licensed patent for a Schmallenberg virus protein suitable for use in vaccine formulation (2020).
In June 2022, I began my postdoctoral position at the Biobizkaia Health Research Institute (Spain), aiming to apply my previous experience in a different functional context with clinical applications. There, I have developed a research line leveraging the memory-like properties of natural killer cells, which resemble trained immunity, to enhance CAR-NK-based treatments for CD19+ hematological malignancies. Of note, the results generated to date have garnered interest from field scientists and clinicians, and I have presented these findings at 2 national conferences (2023).