Hortensia Rico has been re-elected as dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences of the Universitat de València. On Wednesday, 13 March, the Centre Board elected her with 28 votes in favour and 6 blank votes.
The team is comprised of Marisa Ferrándiz (vice-dean for Pharmacy Studies); Mónica Fernández (Food Sciences Studies); Emilia Ferrer (International Relations, Exchange Programmes and Quality); Javier Pereda (Innovation, Communication and Culture); Ester Carbó (External Internships): and José María Centeno (Secretary and Research).
Professors Reyes Barberá, Mª José Esteve, Virginia Merino, Carla Soler and Rosa Marín will coordinate the Degrees in Food Science and Technology, Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Pharmacy, Gastronomic Sciences and the Double Degree in Pharmacy and Human Nutrition and Dietetics.
During Rico’s three years as dean of the Faculty, the name of the centre has been changed, the pharmaceutical care room has been opened, the students from the Degree in Pharmacy, Nutrition and the Double Degree have joined the CESIS activities and the faculty has become a leading institution in sustainability, innovation, cooperation and learning and service projects.
In this next stage it has among other objectives the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Faculty of Pharmacy, the construction of a building that will host the Pilot Plant for Pharmaceutical Technology together with kitchens and a tasting room for the Gastronomic Degrees, the revision of the syllabus adapting it to the Organic Law on the University System and the implementation of an international degree.
Hortensia Rico graduated from the Universitat de València in 1981 and has been a doctor in Pharmacy since 1987. She is a pharmacist specialised in Microbiology and Parasitology by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science since 1989 and was the first woman to join the Academy of Pharmacy of the Valencian Community in June, 2019.
She has held the positions of coordinator of the Degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics (2010-2015) and vice-dean for Food Studies (2015-2021). She has been a member of the Faculty Board since 1983, of the Senate and of the Governing Council.
Her teaching activity, both theoretical and practical, covers all the degree courses at the Faculty of Pharmacy, as she has taught Microbiology on the Degrees in Pharmacy, Food Science and Technology, Human Nutrition and Dietetics and Gastronomic Sciences.
Since 2014, she has collaborated in the university programme for seniors of the UV (Nau Gran), developing different subjects from the microbiological point of view in the Health Sciences pathways.
Since 1990, she has been an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Ecology, where she is the coordinator of the Departmental Unit of Pharmacy and a member of numerous committees.
She has participated in more than 20 subsidised research and educational innovation projects. Her scientific output is complemented by book chapters, research papers, presentations and communications at conferences, as well as the supervision of doctoral theses, Master's Theses and Final Degree Projects.
Passionate about photography, one of her photos was chosen as the cover of the journal ‘Nature Biotechnology’ in 2017.
Her main research line focuses on the field of Food Microbiology, more specifically on the study of antibiotic resistance that microorganisms isolated from unprocessed food.
She is also a member of the Research Group of the Joint Unit of Endocrinology, Nutrition and Clinical Dietetics at La Fe Hospital, and is a member of numerous scientific societies.
