Born in Vinaròs (1961). Professor of Genetics at the School of Biological Sciences. He got a degree in Biological Sciences (Biochemistry) and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Valencia, with an extraordinary doctorate award.
His scientific career began as a predoctoral fellow of the Generalitat Valenciana at the University of Valencia. He did a two-year postdoctoral stay in the laboratory of Prof. Francisco J. Ayala from the University of California at Irvine (USA), and short stays as a visiting professor at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark, and at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He was a researcher for 14 years at the “Cavanilles” Institute for Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, of the University of Valencia, and in the last eight years, he has been a researcher in the Systems Biology of yeasts of biotechnological interest Group at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA), CSIC, through an agreement between  CSIC and the University of Valencia.
During his research career, he has worked in different lines of research such as the molecular evolution of Drosophila, the evolution of RNA viruses, and the role of chaperonins in bacterial endosymbiosis. In recent years, his research work has focused on the study, through comparative genomics and the analysis of 'omic' data, of the molecular mechanisms involved in the generation of genetic innovations that explain the adaptation of yeasts of the genus Saccharomyces in fermentative environments, responsible for their properties of biotechnological interest.
He has participated in 36 competitive research projects, of which 12 as principal investigator. He is the author of more than 130 articles in international journals indexed in the Science Citation Index. He has mentored 15 doctoral theses, supervised 4 postdoctoral researchers, and has been recognized for 6 six-year years periods of research.
His teaching activity currently focuses on subjects in the degrees in Biology and Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, in addition to the master's degree in R&D in Biotechnology and Biomedicine. He participated in the creation of the Master's Degree in Bioinformatics, being a member of its academic coordination committee for more than five years. He has 6 recognized five-year teaching periods. He was a member of the Senate of the University of Valencia and the faculty board of the School of Biological Sciences, during different periods.[Biography, English version]

As a university student (Universitat de València, UV), I belonged to the research team awarded with the prize “Certamen de Jóvenes Investigadores” with a proposal about polymorphisms associated with alcoholism (1993). I got my degree in Biology (1993) and my dissertation about Usher syndrome” (1998) was awarded as the best doctoral thesis by ONCE - UV. With this study, I initiated my career on genetics of rare Mendelian diseases. The main scientific contributions were the characterization of genetic bases of Usher syndrome in clinical series and the estimate of prevalence in Spain. My postdoctoral period started in the Unit of Congenital Bleeding Disorders at the University Hospital La Fe (1998-2003), where I got a fellowship from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII). I collaborated on research lines focused on genetics of hemophilia A and B, coagulation FVII deficiency and von Willebrand disease as a postdoctoral researcher. I participated in the genetic study of cohorts of Spanish patients with several coagulopathies. In 2003, I moved to the Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia – CSIC where I collaborated with open research lines focused on genetics of ataxias, peripheral neuropathies and movement disorders. I described for the first time the genetic bases of an ultrare disease: uroconase deficiency. I started as a group leader with my Miguel Servet I (MSI, 2009-15), and with the first grants, I initiated my own research lines. In 2014, I was evaluated and obtained the MSII contract as PI (2015-18). My group provided new data to better understand the disease mechanism of Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 4C (CMT4C); to characterize genetics associated with CMT and generate genetic tools for diagnosis; to discover junctophilin as a genetic modifier of CMT2K; and to establish MORC2 as a new gene involved in CMT2Z. I initiated new lines focused on the molecular bases and biomarkers for NBIA (Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation) and Wilson’s disease (WD). I participated in the development of a new clinical scale for NBIA patients as well as the description of the genetic bases. My group reported the genetics of clinical series of WD and detected a miRNA profile as biomarkers (patent).

During these years as MS researcher and group leader, I got projects funded by public or private institutions such as ISCIII, IRDiRC, CNAG, Foundation La Marató TV3, Foundation Ramón Areces, Foundation Per Amor a l'Art, AFM-Téléthon and EASIGenomics. Recently, I was awarded with my sixth national public project funded by the ISCIII (PI24-00017).

Technological development activities, in 2012, I moved my MSI contract to the Hospital U. La Fe where I created the Neurogenetics Platform, a service in which we offered genetic analysis of rare hereditary neuropathies. In 2013, I moved to the CIPF where, do I ran my own group and also worked in the Service of Genomics and Translational Genetics (SGGT), in which I carried out genetic analysis of rare neuropathies. In 2016, we generated a gene panel for hereditary peripheral neuropathies that we traded in the service. I was the SGGT’s director from 2015 until its closing in 2021.

In 2024, I obtained a teaching position in the Genetics Department of the University of Valencia where I currently carry out my teaching and research activities.

I work close with PAOs (patient advocacy organizations): (1) I belong to the scientific board of the Spanish PAOs on Wilson disease (AEFE Wilson) and ataxias (FEDAES), and I usually collaborate in meetings with others (ADIBI, ASVAH). (2) I am the chair-woman of AITER (consortium with 15 institutions for the Translational Research in Rare Diseases in Valencia). (3) I organize since 2016, the National Conference of Female Researchers in Rare Diseases, which binds science, women and rare diseases, and aims to bring science about rare diseases made by women closer to citizens.

I have a degree in Chemistry specialising in Biochemistry from the Universitat de València (UV, 1994). I spent 5 months in the Goerlaeus laboratories of the University of Leiden (Netherlands). After graduating, I joined the Department of Genetics of the UV, where I did my doctoral thesis with an FPI Scholarship from the Generalitat Valenciana, obtaining my doctorate in 1999. During that period, I made a short stay (1996) at the Institute of Biotechnology of Cuernavaca (Mexico). I have done postdoctoral stays in different centers of recognized prestige, IATA (CSIC) (1999). Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (UV) (1999-2002) and EMBL (Grenoble, France, 2002-2004), with a Specialization Scholarship in International Organizations. Later I joined the Department of Genetics of the UV, with a postdoctoral fellowship Carmen and Severo Ochoa (2007-2009) and from 2009 to 2012 with a contract as a Senior Research Technician. In 2012 I competed and obtained a position as Associate Professor Dr and in 2017 as University Professor.

TEACHING ACTIVITY: Since 1996 I have taught in 21 different subjects, covering undergraduate or undergraduate students from second to master's degree. I have taught these classes in 2 degrees (Biology and Chemistry) and in 6 different degrees: Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences (· BCB, 5), Biotechnology (BT, 5), Biology (Biol, 1), Double Degree Law-Criminology and Degree in Criminology (DC or C, 4) and in two master's degrees: Master in Molecular, Cellular and Genetic Biology (1) and Master in Bioinformatics (2).  I am currently coordinator of external internships of students in companies for the Degree in Biotechnology and I have the Quality Mention as a tutor of these practices. Since March 2018 I am Vice-Dean of Innovation and Quality of the Faculty of Biology. I have directed 13 final degree projects in the degrees of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology and Criminology, 6 Master's Final Projects, and the Doctoral Thesis of Dr. López-Galiano: Identification of miRNAs with predictive value as biomarkers of biotic and abiotic stress in plants of agronomic interest. 26.03.2021 and I am co-directing another. I have recognized three five-year teaching periods

EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION ACTIVITIES: Since 2018 I have participated in 12 teaching innovation projects with 6 participations in congresses or educational days

RESEARCH CAREER: In my research career I have mainly addressed the field of pathogen-host interactions from a multitude of approaches, both in terms of the range of organisms (bacteria-insects, phages-bacteria, insects-plants, viruses-humans) and the type of approach, from purely molecular and basic research (phage structures, protein-protein interactions or biochemical characterization of the mode of action of toxins) to those of clinical or field application.  I have recognized three six-year periods of research. In 2014, I participated in the Potato Beetle genome annotation project, within the i5k initiative: genome sequencing of 5000 arthropods.

TRANSFER ACTIVITY: I am co-inventor of two patents: P0201030569- Increase in the expression of recombinant sequences in eukaryotes and ES27176855- Peptide and pharmaceutical compositions of the same for use as an antimicrobial and in the treatment of cancer. I have participated in the Innosalud (2020) and Innotransfer (2020,  2021) programs  .

PEER REVIEW AND EVALUATION ACTIVITIES Since 2009 I have participated as a reviewer in: Letters in  Applied Microbiology, Journal of Applied Microbiology, Cells, Plant Cell Reports, IJMS, BAOJ Biotechnology ... I participate as an external Evaluator for the National Agency for Evaluation and Foresight (ANEP) since 2015, for the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE) since 2019 (21 business projects evaluated) and for the UV-Ministry of Universities, for the evaluation of the University Requalification System program (2021).

DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES. Member of the Organizing Committee of Climathon-Burjassot 2019 (Climate Kick-UV), and Hackaton AgrotecUV (2021). Member of the organizing committee and the scientific congress  (Innocampus-Explora project) Innocovid19 (2020) and Innofuturo (2021 ).

PhD in Pharmacy from the Universitat de València (1991), I did a postdoctoral stay of more than 3 years at the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics (University of Utah, USA). After 15 years dedicated to the study of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae from almost any point of view (study of the cell wall, model system for the study of human tumor suppressor genes, analysis of stress and contamination in brewing yeast or global gene expression in wine yeasts), I joined the field of bacterial genomic evolution, in which I have been working since 2001 as a member of the Evolutionary Genetics group of the Universitat de València, where I am currently Full Professor of Genetics.

I do my research at the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), a joint collaborative center Universitat de València - CSIC. Since 2001, my work has been mainly devoted to the study of the genome of endosymbiotic bacteria, which live inside specialized cells of insect with restricted diets (such as aphids, weevils or mealybugs), to understand the relationship between these bacteria and their hosts, the bacterial genome reduction in these conditions, and its consequences for the inferred metabolic network. As a complement to these studies, I have also been involved in studies on the definition of the minimal genome, essential for the maintenance of a living cell, and its implications in the field of Synthetic Biology.

In recent years, our consolidated model system to study symbiotic interactions is the German cockroach Blattella germanica. Cockroaches are specially interesting because two symbiotic systems coexist in each individual, an obligate endosymbiont and a complex gut microbiota. We have developed strategies to better understand the implication of each sytem in the host welfare, and their putative crosstalk. More recently, we are focusing on the host mechanisms to control the symbionts, with special interest in antimicrobial peptides and microRNAs.

Current research projects

- Host-symbiont communication and its utility in biological pest and pathogen control (SYMB-CONTROL, PID2021-128201NB-I00; co-financed MICIN-UEFEDER-AEI, EU and Spain)
- Temperature and antibiotics stress: effects on phage bacteria interactions in the gut microbiota of Blatella germanica (CIPROM/2021/042; Generalitat Valenciana, Spain).
- RNA communication across kingdoms: new mechanisms and strategies in pathogen control (exRNA-PATH, CA20110; COST action, EU)

Recent and selected publications

Cazzaniga, M., R. Domínguez-Santos, J. Marín-Miret, R. Gil, A. Latorre, C. García-Ferris (2023). Exploring gut microbial dynamics and symbiotic interaction in Blattella germanica using rifampicin. Biology 12:955. doi: 10.3390/biology12070955

Latorre, A., R. Domínguez-Santos, C. García-Ferris, R. Gil (2022). Of cockroaches and symbionts: recent advances in the characterization of the relationship between Blattella germanica and its dual symbiotic system. Live 12: 290. doi: 10.3390/life12020290

Garzón, M.J., M. Reyes-Prieto, R Gil (2022). The minimal translation machinery: what we can learn from naturally and experimentally reduced genomes. Front. Microbiol. 13:858983. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.858983

Solana, J., E. Garrote-Sánchez, R. Gil (2021). DELEAT: gene essentiality prediction and deletion design for bacterial genome reduction. BMC Bioinformatics 22:444. doi: 10.1186/s12859-021-04348-5

Domínguez-Santos R, A.E. Pérez-Cobas, P. Cuti, V. Pérez-Brocal, C. García-Ferris, A. Moya, A. Latorre, R. Gil (2021). Interkingdom gut microbiome and resistome of the cockroach Blattella germanica. mSystems 6:e01213-20. doi: 10.1128/mSystems.01213-20

Reyes-Prieto, M., R. Gil, M. Llabrés, P. Palmer-Rodríguez, A. Moya (2021). The metabolic building blocks of a minimal cell. Biology, 10:5. doi: 10.3390/biology10010005

Gil, R., A. Latorre (2019). Unity makes strength: a review on mutualistic symbiosis in representative insect clades. Life 9: 21; doi:10.3390/life9010021.

Gil, R., C. Vargas-Chavez, S. López-Madrigal, D. Santos-García, A. Latorre, A. Moya (2018). Tremblaya phenacola PPER: An evolutionary beta-gammaproteobacterium collage. ISME J. 12:124-135. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2017.144

López-Madrigal, S., R. Gil (2017). Et tu, Brute? Not even intracellular mutualistic symbionts escape horizontal gene transfer. Genes 8:247. doi: 10.3390/genes8100247

Lloréns-Rico, V., J. Cano, T. Kamminga, R. Gil, A. Latorre, W. H. Chen, P. Bork, J. I. Glass, L. Serrano, M. Lluch-Senar (2016). Bacterial antisense RNAs are mainly the product of transcriptional noise. Sci. Adv. 2:e1501363. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1501363

Klein, A., L. Schrader, R. Gil, A. Manzano-Marín, L. Flórez, D. Wheeler, J. H. Werren, A. Latorre, J. Heinze, M. Kaltenpoth, A. Moya, J. Oettler (2016). A novel intracellular mutualistic bacterium in the invasive ant Cardiocondyla obscurior. ISME J. 10:376-388. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2015.119

Gil, R., J. Peretó (2015). Small genomes and the difficulty to define minimal translation and metabolic machineries. Front. Ecol. Evol. 3:123. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2015.00123

López-Madrigal, S., A. Latorre, A. Moya, R. Gil (2015). The link between independent acquisition of intracellular gamma-endosymbionts and concerted evolution in Tremblaya princeps. Front. Microbiol. 6:642. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00642

Gil, R. (2014). The minimal gene-set machinery. In Encyclopedia of Molecular Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine: Synthetic Biology, 2nd edition. Meyers RA (ed.). Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. pp. 1-36. doi: 10.1002/3527600906.mcb.20130079

López-Madrigal, S., A. Beltrà, S. Resurrección, A. Soto, A. Latorre, A. Moya, R. Gil (2014). Molecular evidence for ongoing complementarity and horizontal gene transfer in endosymbiotic systems of mealybugs. Front. Microbiol. 5:449. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00449

Oakeson, K. F.*, R. Gil*, A. L. Clayton, D. M. Dunn, A. C. von Niederhausern, C. Hamil, A. Aoyagi, B. Duval, A. Baca, F.J. Silva, A. Vallier, D. G. Jackson, A. Latorre, R. B. Weiss, A. Heddi, A. Moya, C. Dale (2014). Genome degeneration and adaptation in a nascent stage of symbiosis. Genome Biol. Evol. 6:76-93. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evt210 *Equal contribution.

López-Madrigal, S., A. Latorre, M. Porcar, A. Moya, R. Gil (2013). Mealybugs nested endosymbiosis: going into the ‘matryoshka’system in Planococcus citri in depth. BMC Microbiol. 13:74. doi: 10.1186/1471-2180-13-74

Moya, A., R. Gil, A. Latorre., J. Peretó, M.P. Garcillán-Barcia, F. de la Cruz (2009). Towards minimal bacterial cells: evolution versus design. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 33:225-235. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2008.00151.x

Moya, A., J. Peretó, R. Gil, A. Latorre (2008). Learning how to live together: genomic insights into prokaryote-animal symbioses. Nature Rev. Genet. 9:218-229. doi:10.1038/nrg2319 

Tamames, J.*, R. Gil*, A. Latorre, J. Peretó, F.J. Silva, A. Moya (2006). The frontier between cell and organelle: genome analysis of Candidatus Carsonella ruddii. BMC Ecol. Evol. 7:181. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-7-181 *Equal contribution.

T. Gabaldón, J. Peretó, F. Montero, R. Gil, A. Latorre, A. Moya (2007). Structural analyses of a hypothetical minimal metabolism. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. Biol. Sci. 362:1751-1762. doi:  10.1098/rstb.2007.2067

Pérez-Brocal, V., R. Gil, S. Ramos, A. Lamelas, M. Postigo, J. M. Michelena, F. J. Silva, A. Moya, A. Latorre (2006). A small microbial genome: the end of a long symbiotic relationship? Science 314:312-313. doi: 10.1126/science.1130441

Gil, R., F. J. Silva, J. Peretó, A. Moya (2004). Determination of the core of the minimal bacterial gene set. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 68: 518-537. doi: 10.1128/MMBR.68.3.518-537.2004

Gil, R., B. Sabater-Muñoz, A. Latorre, F. J. Silva, A. Moya (2002). Extreme genome reduction in Buchnera spp.: towards the minimal genome needed for symbiotic life. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 4454-4458. doi: 10.1073/pnas.062067299

Fernando Gonzalez Candelas, PhD (University of Valencia, 1987) is Professor of Genetics at the University of Valencia since 2006 and head of the “Evolution and Health” Research Unit at the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology UV-CSIC (I2SysBio) at the same university. In addition, he has a joint appointment at the FISABIO-Public Health through the joint research unit “Infection and Public Health” with the University of Valencia and at the CIBERESP (Centre for Networked Research on Biomedicine – Public Health and Epidemiology).
    My main research interests are in population and evolutionary genetics, molecular and evolutionary epidemiology, molecular systematics and genomics, bioinformatics and conservation biology. I am currently working on the molecular evolutionary epidemiology of different pathogens, mainly RNA viruses, such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and bacteria, such as Legionella pneumophila, Treponema pallidum, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Our basic approach is the analysis of nucleotide sequence variability at different levels, from intrapatient to world-wide samples, and from particular genes to complete genomes, depending on the specific goals of the different projects. Previously I have studied the population and evolutionary biology of Mediterranean endemic Limonium (Plumbaginaceae) species, by using an array of genetic markers (RAPDs, AFLPs, microsatellites, isozymes) and including the analysis of quantitative traits. I have published more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific papers and written two books.

[Biography, english version]

He studied Biology and Philosophy simultaneously at the University of Valencia, obtaining his Ph.D. in Biology in 1983 and Philosophy (Extraordinary Award) in 1988. He did his postdoctoral stay in 1985-1986 with a Fulbright grant at the University of California at Davis (USA). He had been visiting professor at the University of California at Irvine (USA) in 1988 and 1994, and in 2019 professor on a sabbatical stay with a Fulbright grant at Harvard University. In 1986 he created the Evolutionary Genetics group in the Dept. of Genetics at the University of Valencia, where he has been a professor since 1993. He was the director of this Dept. from 1995 to 1998. He has been the promoter of the Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology of the University of Valencia and its director from its creation in 1998 until 2010. He has also been a promoter of the Astrobiology Center (INTA-CSIC) and the Centro Superior de Investigación en Salud Pública de la Conselleria de Sanidad del Gobierno Valenciano (CSISP), of which he was its director in 2012. The CSISP was integrated into the Valencian Foundation for Promoting Health and Biomedical Research of the Valencian Community, FISABIO. He was the FISABIO-Public Health division's scientific director from 2013 until July 2014. Since August 2014, he has directed, within FISABIO, the FISABIO Chair for the Promotion of Biomedical Research, an Institutional Chair of the University of Valencia.

He is the author of about 600 publications, including scientific articles, reviews, book chapters, and books on Genetics, Evolution, and Philosophy (20,700 citations, h-index of 74). He has participated in several patents and created a spin-off company. Experimental evolution of viruses and genomics and metagenomics of bacteria and microbial communities represent the research areas where he has made the most significant scientific contributions. He introduced Genomics in Spain, and his group sequenced the first genome of a bacterium, entirely carried out in Spain. He has done extensive work in disseminating and reflecting on science and has published several books on evolutionary theory and the scope of evolutionary thought. He currently focuses his research on symbiosis, mainly studying the human microbiome and other organisms from an evolutionary, systems biology, and synthetic biology perspective. He has supervised 35 doctoral theses, and many national and foreign scientists have been trained in his research group. He has received competitive funding from regional, national, European, and international agencies and has been the principal investigator of national, European, and international projects.

He has given lectures and courses in European countries, Latin America, the United States, and Asia. He has formed or is a member of commissions of research evaluation agencies in Spain and its autonomous communities, different European and Latin American countries, and the European Union.

He is a member of several scientific societies, founder of the European Society of Evolutionary Biology, the Spanish Society of Virology, and the Spanish Society of Evolutionary Biology, of which he has been its president. He is editor-in-chief, associate editor, or editorial board member of several scientific and philosophical journals.

He has received the following distinctions: the City of Barcelona Award for Scientific Research (1996), "Fellow" of the "American Association for the Advance of Science" (1998), the Diario Médico Award (2006), Diploma of the President of the Valencian Government for Excellence in Biomedical Research (2010), National Genetics Award (2012), Lilly Award in Preclinical Biomedical Research (2013), Mexico Award for Science and Technology (2015), Dr. Honoris Causa by the Menéndez Pelayo International University (2016), Advisor to the Gadea Foundation (2017), Maestro Andrés Laguna Award (2019), Alberto Sols Award for Research in Health Sciences (2022).

I initiated my research activity with a FPI pre-doctoral grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education (1994-1997) to carry out the PhD Thesis entitled “Mode of action of Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal proteins in the forests pests Thaumetopoea pityocampa and Lymantria monacha” supervised by Dr. M. Dolores Real at the University of Valencia  During this period, I performed a three-month research stay at the biotechnological company Plant Genetic Sytems (Ghent, Belgium) in 1993, and a two-month research stay at the Entomology Department of the Ludwig Maximilians Universität (München, Germany) in 1995. I started my post-doctoral research (1998-2001) in the research group of Dr. Andrés Moya and Dr. Amparo Latorre on the area of insect endosymbionts genome sequencing at the Astrobiology Center (INTA, Madrid) and Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (University of Valencia), followed by a post-doctoral research stay (2002-2004) at Dr. Alejandra Bravo’s laboratory (Biotechnology Institute, UNAM, Mexico), focused on the molecular mechanisms of membrane insertion of B. thuringiensis toxins. In 2004, I rejoined Dr. M. Dolores Real’s group at the Genetics Department of the University of Valencia with a “Ramón y Cajal” research contract (2004-2009) to study Cry3Aa toxin mode of action in coleopteran pests. Since 2009, I am associate professor of Genetics at the University of Valencia and I have expanded my research in the area of plant protection to include the study and characterization of the underlying molecular mechanisms of plant defense against biotic and abiotic stress as well as exploiting natural resources (natural priming compounds, insect microbial communities, peptides of plant or insect origin) to improve plant performance. After a two-month research stay that I performed at Dr. Hoskins’ laboratory (Pathology Dept., Dalhousie University, Canada) in 2015, our group started a new line of research on the use of peptides derived from insects as antimicrobial agents and in cancer, and I am co-inventor of the patent entitled “Peptide and pharmaceutical compositions of same for use as antimicrobial and in cancer treatment” (ES201731455, PCT/ES2018/070824). I am full professor of Genetics since 2025.

As a researcher I have participated in 16 research projects, being PI and co-PI of 6 of them, and I have 5 “sexenios” (six year-research periods) recognized. Throughout my scientific career I have participated in several international projects supported by funding organizations for research and innovation networks such as COST and CYTED and I have also carried out research in collaboration with companies such as with Ionera Technologies GmbH, Freiburg, Germany. From 2020 to 2024, our research group participated in the European project “SYSTEMIC: An integrated approach to the challenge of sustainable food systems: adaptive and mitigatory strategies to address climate change and malnutrition”, within the ERA-HDHL Knowledge Hub on Food and Nutrition Security in which I was co-leader of WP 2 Task 1 “Crop production optimization, biodiversity, and plant breeding”.

I have co-directed 3 PhD theses (Camila Ochoa, 2011; Estefanía Contreras, 2013; Aida Robles Fort, 2023), two of which were granted with the Extraordinary Doctorate Award, as well as 8 Master theses. I have also served as reviewer of several scientific journals (Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, etc.).