Short presentation

I am biologist with a strong background in genetics. I finished my education in biology in 1990. I completed my PhD in 1997 in Population Genetics of Drosophila at the University of Barcelona. After that, I made several postdoctoral projects in different places (in Barcelona and in Denmark at KU and KVL) with focus on molecular biology, comparative genomics and functional genomics. I have a lot of experience in sequencing, gene cloning, library construction, expression studies (Northern, real-time RT-PCR, array technology, Next-generation sequencing technologies) and in basic bioinformatics. I have been working with several model organisms: Drosophila, humans, plants , dogs and pigs. At present, I actively participate in several projects focusing in comparative genomics between man and pig.

Primary fields of research

• Molecular biology
• Genetics
• Mammalian Genomics
• Gene expression
• microRNA  in disease
• Pig as a model for obesity

Current research

• Revealing the role of ncRNAs in disease with special focus in microRNAs.

MicroRNAs have recently emerged as powerful regulators of gene expression at post-transcriptional level and play important roles in many biological processes and in disease. The rapid pace of the emerging field of microRNAs has open new avenues for development of suitable techniques to quantitatively determine microRNAs expression level in different model systems. We have developed a new qPCR assay to specifically quantify the amount of microRNAs in different tissue samples. Furthermore, the next-generation sequencing technique provides us with profiles of microRNAs expressed in biological samples and allows the discovery of novel ncRNAs. The microRNAs differentially expressed in disease could be promising diagnostic markers in the near future.

• Pig as a model for human diseases, with focus on obesity

Due to its similarity in organ sizes, metabolic features, cardiovascular systems, dietary habits and fat deposition the pigs provide an exceptional model for many human diseases including obesity.  i.e. characterization of the genes and pathways involved in obesity in pigs will open up new research avenues in the management of human obesity-related health issues. We have established a Bio-bank of porcine tissues from around 600 lean and fat animals which represent a unique resource for functional studies in obesity related health issues.

Teaching

• Course responsible of "Mammalian Genomics" in Biology-Biotechnology education.
• Lectures in "Biomedicine" course in Veterinary education.

Knowledge of languages

Catalan

Spanish

Danish

English

French