News

Mobility grant awarded!

I am really happy to share that I have been awarded by the Spanish national network “Conexión Microbioma” to support a new collaboration between our research group at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC, in Madrid, Spain) with Josep Ramoneda at the Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC, in Blanes, Spain). This project is also in collaboration with Salvador Sánchez Carrillo from the MNCN-CSIC.

In our project AGAPA (“Adaptaciones Genómicas a la Aridificación en Procariotas Acuáticos", which stands for "Genomic Adaptations to Aridification in Aquatic Prokaryotes"), we aim to study microbial genomic adaptations to drought episodes in the “Las Tablas de Daimiel” National Park (Ciudad Real, Spain) via metagenomics. Our main goal in this project is to determine which microbial groups and functional genes are associated to desiccation in freshwaters by applying machine learning tools in metagenomic data.

You can read more about the grant call here.

12/12/2025

XIX REDEX Meeting

Between the 14th and the 16th of October of 2025 I attended the 19th REDEX Meeting held in Huelva (Spain). The REDEX, which stands for "RED nacional de microorganismos EXtremófilos", is a national network in Spain that aims to connect different researchers working in the field of ecology of extremophile microorganisms, fostering collaboration and the exchange of new ideas. During the conference, I presented one of my main postdoctoral research projects titled "The role of microbial genomes as centiles of water quality on a semi-enclosed bay in northwest Spain". This work is focused mainly on the exploration of the anthropic impact of the city of Vigo in estuarine microbial communities and its resistome via metagenomics.

We also had the unique opportunity to visit the Tinto River, a freshwater body deeply studied due to its astrobiological applications in microbiology and chemistry.

17/10/2025

XVIII Symposium on Aquatic Microbial Ecology (SAME18)

Last week I attended the 18th Symposium on Aquatic Microbial Ecology held in Barcelona (Spain) between the 28th of September and the 3rd of October of 2025. Almost 300 microbial ecologists from multiple parts of the world attended the conference to share their newest research, and discuss future lines of research in the field.

Here, I presented some of my most recent work as a postdoctoral researcher titled "The role of microbial genomes as centiles of water quality on a semi-enclosed bay in northwest Spain". This work is focused mainly on the exploration of the microbial communities that inhabit the Vigo estuary, as well as the diversity and abundance of different antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in this water ecosystem. Thanks to many colleagues in the field, I got new ideas for the future steps of this project!

We also got the opportunity to attend the talks of a large number of international researchers in the field, assist to a very enlightening cytometry workshop, and even enjoy the nice 'barcelonese' weather and food.

06/10/2025

XXX Conference of the Spanish Society of Microbiology

Between the 16th and the 19th of June of 2025, the XXX Conference of the Spanish Society of Microbiology (SEM) took place in Jaén (Spain). I got the great oportunity to show my work as an oral presentation and discuss my results with new collegues in the field. I presented my latest preprint on the ecological implications of genome size in freshwater prokaryotes. I really appreciate this opportunity, and I really look forward meeting more researchers in microbiology during the next years!

27/06/2025

VIII Jornadas Científicas del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales

On the 5th and the 6th of March of 2025, I attended the VIII Scientific Meeting of the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid (Spain). Here, I presented my work as an oral presentation to all my new colleagues at the museum. More specifically, we discussed part of my thesis work, where we investigated the ecological implications of genome size in the abundance and prevalence of freshwater prokaryotes.

05/03/2025

I started a new position!

I am glad to communicate that I recently started my new adventure as a postdoctoral researcher! After almost 5 years doing my PhD at Stockholm University (Sweden), I joined the team of Rafael Laso Pérez at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid, Spain. With Rafael, I'll be the main responsible for the bioinformatic analysis in our team, and I'll be involved in the various projects, such as ARGOS (acronym for "Antimicrobial Resistance by metaGenomics Overview in a Sewage system"). In ARGOS, we aim to use metagenomics to investigate the distribution and abundance of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in the wastewater system of the city of Madrid (this is the Canal de Isabel II). During my postdoc, I'll also be involved on a diversity of projects where we will use metagenomics to investigate microbial diversity ain aquatic ecosystems. Keep tuned for all the cool science that is coming!

17/02/2025