I was born and raised in Spain, where I completed a bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Medicine. After that, I did a Master’s degree and a PhD on the use of antimicrobials to control foodborne bacterial pathogens. One of my placements during the PhD was in the UK, and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to return here to assume a postdoctoral position in a research project aimed at the development of strategies to cultivate previously uncultured bacteria for the discovery of novel antimicrobials.
The research project, which was a collaboration between industry and academia, not only allowed me to conduct applied research but also design end-to-end solutions. These solutions included a machine learning-based application to monitor bacterial growth, and a high-throughput, low cost screening platform for the discovery of antimicrobials from environmental sources. Alongside this work, throughout the last year I have been collaborating as a microbiologist in a European consortium to advance the preclinical development of new antibiotics.
