I am a young, motivated, and passionate researcher whose main interest is focused on metabolism, obesity, and aging-related diseases. I finished my degree in Pharmacy in 2012 and my diploma in Optics and Optometry in 2013, and I was awarded with a Special Distinction. I began my research career in 2013, granted by MINECO (BES-2013-063773), under the direction of doctors Mariano Ruiz Gayo and Beatriz Merino Palacios. During my pre-doctoral training, I completed a stay at an international center of excellence (INSERM U-1031 Toulouse; Dr. Coralie Sengenès) thanks to a short-term grant from MINECO (EEBB-I-15-10081). My doctoral thesis, on the topic of metabolism and obesity, dealt with the effect of cholecystokinin on adipose tissue metabolism. In addition, during my predoctoral stage, I was involved in teaching activities (more than 230 hours) in different degrees, at the Faculties of Pharmacy and Dentistry of CEU-San Pablo University (awarded the First Prize for Teaching and Research Quality of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University, 2016 and 2017). In September 2017, I defended my Doctoral Thesis in Pharmacy (“Efecto de la Colecistoquinina en la Biología del Adipocito”) with the distinction Summa Cum Laude. My research during this period was published in medium/high impact, including two papers in British Journal of Pharmacology. During 2017-2019, I was involved in a research project dealing with the effect of diets enriched in saturated or unsaturated fat on adipose tissue and cardiac metabolism, as well as with the cognitive impairment induced by these diets. In March 2019 I joined the Metabolic Syndrome group, led by Dr. Pablo José Fernández Marcos (IMDEA Alimentación, Madrid), as a postdoctoral researcher funded by the Spanish Association Against Cancer. During this postdoctoral stage, I was involved in different projects within the field of oncology, focused on i) the study of the role of sirtuins, a family of deacetylases, in the initiation, development, and progression of lung adenocarcinoma, and ii) the characterization of short-term fasting in the context of colorectal cancer treatment, first, evaluating its possible effect as a chemotherapy enhancer by evaluating the role of the p21 gene during fasting, and second, characterizing the beneficial role of short-term fasting in reducing the harmful side effects of chemotherapy. The results of these studies have opened new doors to design complementary strategies to reduce the toxicity associated with chemotherapy through a safe and effective nutritional intervention, such as short-term fasting. 

In September 2022, I rejoined CEU San Pablo University as an Assistant Professor. To date, I am the author of 16 scientific articles in high/medium impact international journals (13 in Q1, of which 6 in D1), I have participated in 11 scientific meetings, both national and international. My research career has culminated in 2022 in the publication of top-level journals, such as Nature Communication, Cancer Communication and the British Journal of Pharmacology (Impact factor JRC 2021; 17,694, 15,283 and 9,473, respectively). The above-mentioned articles also demonstrate my leadership capacity and scientific responsibility, as I am both the first and co-corresponding author. 

In addition, I have participated in the organization of scientific conferences (FarMadrid XXIV, 2015), co-directed 2 master's and degree students and I have participated in 4 competitive research projects with public-private funding. 

Co-directed final degree/master projects 

- Title: Consumption of highly saturated fat during adolescence triggers cardiac steatosis: Potential involvement of leptin. 

- Student: Marco Antonazzi 

- Qualification: 110 e lode (Honors) 

- Date: 22/01/2019 

- Entity: Università La Sapienza (Rome, Italy) 

- Co-directors: Luciano Saso, Mariano Ruiz-Gayo and Adrián Plaza 

- Type of project: Final Degree Project 

- Current status of the student: PhD Student at Kings College London 

- Title: Potential role of nicotinamide riboside chloride supplementation on initiation and growth in lung cancer 

- Student: Lucas Morató Nieto 

- Qualification: 7,8 

- Date: 11/06/22 

- Entity: Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM) 

- Co-directors: Pablo Fernández-Marcos and Adrián Plaza 

- Type of project: Master's Final Project 

- Current status of the student: Bioinformatics at PharmaMar