After finishing my undergraduate studies (Biotechnology) at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide (Spain) I embarked on a PhD at the University of Leeds to study whether cell-to-cell communication plays a role in the establishment of symbiotic interaction in legumes (spoiler: it plays a role). Soon after starting my PhD I realised that, although I think that science is great, I am not so fond of research! I now work in Science Strategy and Policy, specialising in Frontier Bioscience and the science that happens at the Bio/Physics interface. I got involved with SRUK/CERU as Secretary in 2016, then Vice-president and I am now the President.  If you want to chat about anything related (but not limited) to science policy, funding policies and strategy, scientific diasporas, strategic planning, SRUK/CERU activities and prospective collaborations please do get in touch at [email protected]

I completed my degree on Agricultural Engineering at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM), Spain, in 2006, doing my fourth year in the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium as part of the ERASMUS program. After this, I did my Master in Plant and Forest Biotechnology (2007), followed by a PhD in Biotechnology and Genetic Resources of
Plants and Associated Microorganisms in the Centre for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics (CBGP), Madrid, Spain (2013). During my PhD I did an internship in the Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA. In October 2013, I joined Phil Poole’s lab as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, where I am currently working. I have also been appointed as a non-stipendiary lecturer in Biological Sciences by The Queen’s College in 2016.

As a microbiologist, the main focus of my research is a process called Biological Nitrogen Fixation, undertaken by soil bacteria as a way to provide nitrogen to legume plants, which is the basis of crop rotation worldwide. I became a member of CERU in December 2014, being part of the Working Group of the Oxford Constituency since it was established and becoming Vice-Director in December 2015 and director in December 2017.

Javier is a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in Structural Bioinformatics in Prof Dan Rigden’s group at the University of Liverpool.

His career started at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where he gained his degree in Physics, and specialized in Theoretical Physics. He then started working in the group led by Prof. Conxita Solans at the Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (Barcelona, Spain), a Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) centre. While working there, he obtained an MSc in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology awarded by the Universitat de Barcelona, with a work on Self-Assembly of Cationic Surfactants. It was at this stage that he definitely oriented his career towards Computational Science.

After finishing his MSc, he moved to the UK, where he pursued his PhD degree under the supervision of Dr Alessandro Patti at the University of Manchester with an EPSRC funded computational study on polymer nanocomposites. During those years, he also had the opportunity to spend three months in Prof. Josep Bonet’s group at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain) with a project on Rheology of polymer nanocomposites funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry. His first postdoc focused on the computational study of organic semiconductors, materials of great interest for industries producing technologies such as solar cells, flexible displays and other optoelectronic devices.

His current work in the field of Bioinformatics is allowing him to contribute with the development of computational tools for the prediction of the structural conformation of proteins, a fundamental factor that highly determines their function.

 Alba studied Biomedical Sciences at the University of Lleida. During her last year she proceeded with an internship at the Gustave Roussy Institute, Paris. After she studied a master in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris. Meanwhile she was carrying out an internship at the Institut Curie. She is currently performing her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Bristol under the supervision of Prof. Harry Mellor.

I obtained a Masters degree in Photonics from Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in 2010 and defended my PhD thesis, entitle, Quantum dots as luminescent nanothermometers: controlled plasmonic hyperthermia” In March 2015. In September 2015 I joined Herz and Johnston groups at the Condensed Matter Physics Department in the University of Oxford as a postdoctoral research assistant focusing my studies on the microluminescence of semiconductor nanowires systems. In August 2018 I moved to Crowe’s group at the University of Manchester to work as a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the OCT on a chip EPRSC funded project.

I became a member of CERU in October 2015 and joined the Online Department as Oxford Regional Community Manager in December 2015 and the Press Department as Regional Press Officer in March 2016. In September 2017 I became the SRUK blog co-editor and in June 2017 the director of SRUK Press Officer.

I graduated in Electronic Engineering at University Carlos III of Madrid. After undertaking a MSc in Analogue and Digital IC Design at Imperial College London, I worked in Industry for 3 years in several roles on Consultancy and Telecommunication. In 2017 I started my PhD at Imperial College London, as part of the Centre of Bio-Inspired Technology. My work focuses on the development of nano-scale sensors capable of “filming” what’s happening inside a DNA amplification reaction. This technology has the potential to improve early diagnosis of a wide range of diseases – from Breast Cancer to Zika.

I became member of SRUK in summer 2017, and since then I am deeply involved in several initiatives that aim to promote Science and Engineering among both the new generations and the wider society.

Sara Alvira de Celis graduated as a pharmacist from the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela in 2006 followed by an MSc in Biotechnological Engineer (2006-2008). There, she started her research career in the laboratory of Mark van Raaij, in crystallography of viral proteins. In 2008 she moved to the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología in Madrid to complete her doctoral studies in molecular chaperones and transmission electron microscopy at the laboratory of Jose María Valpuesta. After one year of postdoctoral research in the same laboratory, she accepted in 2014 a Research Associate position at the University of Bristol at the laboratory of Ian Collinson working in protein translocation machineries across membranes from a biochemical and structural view. She was awarded in 2015 with the José Tormo Prize from the Spanish Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for her PhD studies in structural biology and the same year she obtained an EMBO Long Term Fellowship. Now, he is an Elizabeth Blackwell Fellow at the same position at the University of Bristol. She was Director of the SRUK South West Constituency from 2017 to 2018 and now she is Director of the International Collaborations Department.

I graduated in Biochemistry from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 2015, after completing summer stays abroad at Universität Zürich and Karolinska Institutet. I then moved to University College London to study Neuroscience, first as an MSc (funded by Fundaciò La Caixa) and currently as a PhD under the supervision of Prof. David Attwell (funded by Wellcome Trust). My research focuses on how the immune cells of the brain are involved in Alzheimer’s disease, and in particular on the role of the potassium channel Kcnk13. I am also passionate about science communication, public engagement and science policy. To get in touch, find me on @pablotres14.

As I child I was obsessed with the X-Men comics, and made clear that I would become a geneticist one day. However, when I started my degree in Biology at the University of Salamanca I realised how much I enjoyed Embryology and Reproduction, and how I could combine all three disciplines by becoming an embryologist. I therefore took a MSc in Human Assisted Reproduction at the Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, where I also learned about embryonic stem cells and genetic preimplantational diagnostic. I trained my skills in IVF clinics in Spain and Portugal. At the same time I became an expert in science communication by the Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura. Thanks to these abilities I obtained a PhD studentship at the University of Southampton, where I studied whether female mammals contain germline stem cells in their ovaries, and the possibility that they give rise to competent eggs that can be used in IVF.

I studied Biochemistry in “Universidad Autónoma de Madrid” from 2011 to 2015, with an Erasmus year abroad in “Uppsala Universitet”, Sweden. After graduating in 2015, I moved to Cambridge to start a PhD in Epigenetics in Professor Wolf Reik’s group in the Babraham Institute. During my PhD, y developed a novel high-throughput CRISPR screen to identify regulators of early embryonic transcription. Since January 2020, I work at GlaxoSmithKlein (GSK), in Stevenage, as part of the Functional Genomics team, where I continue to implement CRISPR screens for drug target identification.

I joined SRUK in 2016 and have been involved in the organisation of events for the Cambridge Constituency as a member of the working group since 2018 and as director since October 2019.

I graduated with a Master in Biology at Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, and then completed a placement as a research assistant at the Institute for Research and Rural Development, Agriculture and Food Science (IMIDRA) in Madrid, focused in the Waste Management and Soil Remediation Department.

I continued my professional career in ecology as a research assistant at Oxford University, and I am currently working as a Junior research scientist in a biotech company called The Native Antigen Company.

I am interested in agroecology and native breeds in danger extinction and ecosystems conservation. I became a member of CERU in March 2017 in Oxford Constituency and in June 2019 I became Director of the Oxford Constituency.

In 2009 I moved to University of Leeds to join, as a postdoctoral Research Associate, the tissue remodelling group headed by Professor Chris Peers at Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine where I investigated the modulation of ion channel activity by gasotransmitters in health and disease. In 2015 I was awarded the Wellcome Trust ISSF fellowship to develop a new area of research focused on the molecular mechanisms of vascular function in health and disease. In particular I investigate endothelial dysfunction associated with autoimmune diseases where there is a dysregulation of the immune system. In March 2017 I was appointed Lecturer in Pharmacology at the University of Bradford where I am currently setting my laboratory up to investigate the physiological role of gasotransmitters in vascular diseases such as pulmonary arterial hypertension and heart failure.

I graduated in Pharmacy from University of Valencia in 2013 after completing a year internship at La Nueva Fe hospital, Valencia, and a summer research project at Jagiellonian Centre for Experimental Therapeutics (JCT) in Krakow. I started to explore the reproduction field as a career and studied my master’s in Biotechnology and Assisted Human Reproduction from the University of Valencia and the prestigious Valencian Institute of Infertility (IVI). I moved to the UK back in 2015 to start my PhD adventure at the University of Birmingham. My PhD was focused in developing new methods for sperm DNA damage quantitation in the area of andrology which I successfully completed in March of 2020. Whilst writing my thesis I started working as a Research Assistant at University of Warwick in January 2019 developing 3D culture models for the study of miscarriage. In May 2020, I accepted a position as a Research Associate in the Birmingham Women’s Hospital in a clinical trial to test the potential benefits of a combined vitamin and mineral supplement in men with poor sperm DNA quality in our recurrent miscarriage population.

I remember very well joining SRUK/CERU Midlands, it was back in 2015 at the Christmas dinner! Since then, I have been a member, secretary in 2018, and director in 2019.

Erik Rodriguez Vazquez is the founder of The Last Puzzle Piece Ltd, an Innovation consultancy that helps companies and research institutions on the development of emerging technologies and their application on the market.

Erik holds a degree in Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering by the University of León (ULE) since 2010. After his studies, he joined an international awarded aerospace consultancy company named GesNaer Consulting developing new concepts for the industry.

As an innovator he decided to step into design & development medical devices, being awarded from The Council & The City and Guilds of London Institute for his collaboration with Midatech previously known as Q-Chip.

Before founding The Last Puzzle Piece, Erik decided to join Zeal Innovation in 2014 to help on the research, design and development of new products and technologies, holding international awards as the “winner of a Red Dot Design Award” or “Industrial Design Winner” on the K-Design Award.

In addition to be an innovator, Erik inspires new generations as a speaker about emerging technologies to entrepreneurs and young generations as part of the “Bristol Digital Cities 2018”.  He also collaborates with marine biologist conservationists off-shore and underwater with new surveys to explore sustainable technologies for future generations.

As many physicist, I started my degree with an eye in astrophysics and astronomy… but then I ended up working on semiconductors science and nanotechnology, doing a PhD on quantum nanostructures with application in infrared devices such as light detectors, lasers and solar cells. As a postdoc in the UK since I came in 2012, I devoted my efforts to the research of new materials for photovoltaics. Over time, however, my experience broadened to include not just the solar cells, but the photovoltaic system as a whole and its integration with other systems, like in hybrid photovoltaic-thermal solar systems to produce both electricity and hot water for industry or domestic applications.
During all these years as a researcher, first as a PhD and then as a postdoc, I worked extensively developing software for my research. Combined with my teaching duties at Imperial College, precisely on programming and computational physics, by the end of the last postdoc contract I decided to move on and try something different, outside the academic path. In November 2018 I joint the Research Computing Service, at Imperial College London to work as Research Software Engineer, putting these computational experience into practice and making it my goal, rather than a means to achieve something else.

Research Fellow – Translational Laboratory for Cardiovascular Imaging and Therapy
Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC)
Eduardo Oliver received his PhD in Pharmacy from the University of Valencia. In 2010 he started working as a postdoctoral Research Associate at Imperial College London where he investigated on the search for new therapeutic targets on pulmonary hypertension. Thanks to his work, in 2016 receives the Young Investigator Award of the European Federation of Pharmacology (EPHAR). Currently, Eduardo is a researcher at the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) in Madrid thanks to a Research Fellow from the COFUND Marie Sklodwska-Curie actions. Eduardo is also an external professor of the Master’s Degree on Research and Rational Use of Medicines at the University of Valencia since 2013.
During the six years living in the UK, Eduardo played a significant role in the conception and development of SRUK/CERU. He is a founding member and since its formal foundation in 2012, he has been part of the board of directors and various committees, some of which he has launched. He was President between 2015-2016, year in which numerous initiatives were developed. He is also one of the components of the Science Policy committee that developed and presented the Report of Recommendations on R&D in Spain for the General Elections of 2015, he has participated in public debates and written opinion articles in the press about science policy and diplomacy.

 I am from Madrid, where most of my career has developed. After obtaining a Biology degree at the University Autonoma, I joined The Foundation for the Study of Viral Hepatitis, focusing my PhD in Hepatitis C virus infections and non-viral related hepatitis. After a short stay in Dr. Rey-Campos lab´s in the Centre for Biological Research, I moved to Prof. Juan Ortín´s lab at the National Biotechnology Centre as a “Juan de la Cierva” and “Sara Borrell” postdoctoral researcher where I further developed my career in the field of RNA viruses, in particular Influenza virus and its interaction with a cellular protein, Staufen1, involved in the traffic and translation regulation of both viral and non viral mRNAs in the cell. In a mainly predominant DNA world, I find RNA a much more fascinating and versatile molecule. Currently I am studying protein-RNA interactions that take place during the RNA splicing process in S. cerevisiae in Prof. Jean Beggs’ lab (Edinburgh).

 I hold a degree in Biology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. In 2008 I got my PhD in Neuroscience at the Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques de Barcelona. During my PhD I studied the role of Neuronal Pentraxin 1, a protein known to be involved in apoptotic cell death, in Alzheimer’s disease. In 2011 I moved to Edinburgh to do my Post Doc and I am currently working in a Structural Biology lab interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms of accurate cell division by structurally and biochemically characterizing key regulators of mitosis. I became a member of SRUK in April 2015 and joined the Press Department at the end of 2015. I have always been interested in Science Communication so I am also a member of the Press Gang of the School of Biological Sciences (University of Edinburgh), which aims to bridge the gap between the researchers in the School and the media and general public.