The primary focus throughout my research career has been within the field of molecular and cellular biology with an emphasis on the characterization of molecular mechanisms involved in the turnover of organelles/proteins and understanding the effects of their malfunctioning on cellular damage and proteotoxicity during aging. I devoted over a decade acquiring a broad range of methodological skills and strong background in experimental procedures for analysis of degradation pathways. I obtained this training in  prestigious research centers including the Institut Curie, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. I gained extensive experience in biochemical methods, proteomics analysis, transgenic animal models and different image-based procedures including high-throughput techniques to analyze direct intercellular communication and proteolytic pathways. 

In 2013,  I was promoted to Junior Faculty in the Developmental & Molecular Biology department. I started to perform independent studies exploring the role of autophagy in aging and aging-related diseases under the umbrella of Dr. Cuervo’s research program. Although I was the recipient of a Marie Curie Fellowship, the most prestigious European Career Development Grant, I decided to join the HNRCA-Tufts in February 2016 to develop my scientific career before coming back to Spain. I was recruited by the Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University, Boston. Supported by the Agricultural Research Service (USDA), the HNRCA is the largest research institution in the world devoted to investigating the relationship between nutrition and aging. I obtained a pilot funding from the USDA to explore the relationship between intercellular communication, glycemia and aging. As an investigator at the HNRCA, I was involved in the study of the interplay between autophagic and heterophagic pathways, exploring the role of autophagy and intercellular communication in aging and aging-related diseases in the context of eye and brain physiology and nutritional manipulation. Recently I got a contract within Ramón y Cajal Programme (RYC) and was recruited by the CEU Cardenal Herrera University. Here I am group leader of the Cellular Aging and Nutrition laboratory.   

I have published 27 articles, 12 from the Cellular Aging and Nutrition laboratory at CEU Cardenal Herrera and 128 corresponding authors with a H-index of 16 and 13904 citations (Google Scholar a 12 Sept 2023). As leading investigator in CEU University, I have obtained funding from MINECO PID2020-119466RB-I)), FUSP-PPC-19-B53C4C64 . Also, I have been ad hoc reviewer in prestigious scientific journals and I have been invited to  the seminar series  2021 Interanational Gap Junction Conference.

Awards and Honors: 2003-2007 Research Fellowship for PhD students; 2008 EMBO Short-term Fellowship; 2015 Fellowship for NIA Training Course in Experimental Aging Research, Buck 2015; AFAR Research Grants for Junior Faculty. Outcome: ranked #1 alternate; 2016 Finalist Target Validation Award Program - Michael J Fox Foundation; 2016 Marie Skłodowska Curie Individual Fellowship - Reintegration Grant; 2018    Vernon Young International Award - American Society for Nutrition (ASN); 2018 Ramon y Cajal Fellowship for Early Career Research Excellence; 2019 CSURM fellowship for GRC Biology of Aging; 2019        HNRCA Award for Early Career Research Excellence; 2021 Pro Retina Fellowship   

Invited presentations: 2014. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center; 2014 Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies. University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; 2015 Drexel University; 2015 Ramón y Cajal Institute for Biomedical Research; 2015 Stony Brook University; 2015 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; 2015 Western University of Health Sciences; 2015 New York Medical College; 2015 and 2019 HNRCA; 2020 University of Seville; 2020 Uconn Health ; 2021 GJIC