About

I am an experienced researcher on the use of molecular modelling methods to study challenging biological systems. My research interests are the study of protein dynamics using molecular dynamics simulations and employing Computer Aided Drug Design techniques to develop new bioactive molecules.

Short Bio

I graduated in Pharmacy from the Univeristy of Barcelona in 2010 and subsequently joined the Department of Physical-Chemistry of the Faculty of Pharmacy (University of Barcelona) to pursue my Master’s degree (2011) and my PhD in Biotechnology (2015) under the supervision of professors Ramon Pouplana and F. Javier Luque. My thesis work focused in understanding mechanism of action of anti-Influenza compounds. Soon after obtaining my PhD, I joined the group of Prof Ulrich Zachariae at the University of Dundee as a postdoctoral research assistant to model the molecular mechanisms driving antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria (2016-2017). Afterwards, I moved to the University of Edinburgh to work with the group of Dr. Julien Michel using computational approaches to characterize the conformational changes and energetic landscapes of intrinsic disordered regions in proteins (2018). Between 2019 and 2020, I was an application developer on the European-wide project BioExcel-2 (devoted to provide applications, tools, support, and networking opportunities to Life Science researchers) as part of the working team assembled by the Edinburg Parallel Computing Centre (EPCC) at the University of Edinburgh.

In September of 2020, I returned to the University of Barcelona as a Juan de la Cierva – Incorporación researcher at the Computational Biology and Drug Design group.

My work and research

My research interests focus on the molecular modelling of challenging systems with societal implications. I aim to understand the interactions and motions that enable the functions of such biological systems, as well as the causes that lead to pathologies when these systems are altered. Here I list some of my current research interests:

Active transport across membranes

The active transport of biomolecules through biological membranes require specialised membrane proteins able to translocate substrates selectively and in most cases against concentration gradient. Mutations on these proteins are often related to pathological phentoypes.

Antimicrobial Resistance

The current rise in antimicrobial resistance urges the development of new antibiotic drugs. Gram-negative constitute the vast majority of priority pathogens exhibiting multi- or pan-drug resistance.