PDI-Ajudant Doctor/A
Department: Prev. Medicine, Public Health, Food Sc.,Toxic. and For. Med.
I am biologist (2000, University of Valencia, Spain) and hold a PhD in Public Health and Legal Medicine (2008, University of Valencia, Spain).
Currently, I am professor at Department of Preventive Medicine & Public Health, Food Sciences, Toxicology and Legal Medicine of the University of Valencia. Previously, I served as Research Director in the Vice-Rectorate for Research and Knowledge Transfer at the International University of Valencia-VIU (Spain). I was also a full professor of Public Health at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the International University of Valencia-VIU.
My research focuses on the prevention of glaucomatous blindness, delving into the genetic and molecular bases of this disease and studying the role of different biological processes (oxidative stress, inflammation, angiogenesis, apoptotis etc) and lifestyle factors (nutrition, tobacco use, alcohol consumption) in relation to glaucoma and other ocular pathologies that cause blindness.
I began this line of research in my early days as a predoctoral student. In the postdoctoral phase I carried out several research stays in internationally recognized groups: Prof. Jeremy Sivak (Toronto Western Research Institute, Toronto, Canada), Prof. Dong Feng Chen (Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA), Prof. Manel Esteller (Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain).
I am a member of the Cellular and Molecular Ophthalmobiology Unit (UOCEM, University of Valencia) and a researcher of the "Cooperative Research Network Oriented to Health Results on Inflammatory Diseases" (RICORS-REI, RD24/0007/0004). During the period 2020-2023 I was a member of the Publications Committee of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO, USA) and I have been Academic Secretary of the Society for Research in Retina and Vision (SIREV, Spain) since 2021.
I am a reviewer of scientific articles and a member of the editorial board of several national and international journals, such as Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group), Frontiers in Medicine (section Ophthalmology, Frontiers Media SA) and Journal of Ophthalmology (Wiley). I have been editor-in-chief of 2 international scientific journals and I am founder of the European Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences (ISSN Online: 2575-5005, Science Publishing Group). In addition, I am an evaluator of research projects for the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (France).
Regarding my experience in the field of accreditation of official university degrees, I participated in the ANECA verification of the Master's Degree in Epidemiology and Public Health (01/27/2020) and in the ANECA verification of the Doctorate Program in Public Health, Community Health and Addictions (10/4/2023) from the International University of Valencia-VIU.
I have received several awards and recognitions, such as the Spanish Society of Ophthalmology award for the Best Doctoral Thesis in 2008, or the 2020 and 2021 Award for Research Excellence from the Valencian International University-VIU.