María José Martínez Bravo

Hello! I’m María José Martínez Bravo.
I was born in Seville, Spain, where my passion for helping patients and improving their well-being inspired me to study Pharmacy in my hometown. Driven by curiosity and a desire to contribute to cutting-edge science, I pursued a Ph.D. at the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, immersing myself in the latest biomedical research.
After completing my doctorate, I sought international experience and accepted a two-year postdoctoral position at the Karolinska Institute. This was my first time working in another language and culture—a truly enriching chapter where I collaborated with brilliant researchers and explored how to induce immune memory responses using an innovative delivery system: exosomes.
Eager for new challenges, I moved to London and joined King’s College London as an associate researcher. There, I contributed to an EU-funded consortium (EMI-TB) focused on developing a novel and effective vaccine against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This successful experience strengthened my commitment to science and inspired me to share knowledge with future generations.
Today, as a Lecturer at University College London’s School of Pharmacy, I have the privilege of teaching Immunology and igniting curiosity in students who remind me of my own journey. Beyond academia, I actively engage in outreach initiatives to bring science to primary school children and advocate for gender equality in Academia. As Chair of the Wom=n in Science committee at SRUK/CERU, I recently co-authored the United Kingdom chapter of the White Paper on Gender Policies in Science and Academia in collaboration with RAICEX’s Research in Gender committee.