IMDEA NanoScience
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.African Proverb
Julio Camarero de Diego
Julio Camarero received his PhD in physics from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 1999. He then worked at Institut Neel-CNRS France (Marie- Curie Fellow and scientific contracts) before returning to UAM in 2003 as Ramon y Cajal research fellow. JC is currently Associate Professor of the Condensed Matter Physics Department. In 2008 he joined IMDEA Nanoscience as Associated Senior Scientist, leading the Nanomagnetism Program.
JC has coordinated National Regional and European projects and has published more than 80 peer-reviewed papers (> 1600 cites, h-index: 22) 11 book chapters, 4 invited papers, and 1 EU patent. 25 invited talks at international conferences (150 other conference presentations). JC is a frequently invited scientist in different Synchrotron Radiation Facilities.
Gorka Salas
After his degree in Chemistry, Gorka Salas completed his PhD (2007) at the Universidad de Valladolid in the field of organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis. From 2008 to 2010 he worked for the CNRS (at Toulouse and Lyon) on the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles in ionic liquids and their use in catalytic hydrogenations. Since 2011 his research is focused on the synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles for different applications, especially for biomedicine, first at ICMM (CSIC) and then at IMDEA Nanociencia where he is currently leading the Laboratory of Magnetic Nanoparticles.
Francisco José Terán Garcinuño
Francisco J. Terán obtained his PhD in Physics (November 2001) at Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble (France) under supervision of Prof. Marek Potemski. Then, Dr. Teran realized different postdoctoral stays at the Quantum Transport group at the University of Nothingham working with Prof. Laurence Eaves, back to Grenoble High Magnetic Field Lab CNRS-MPI/FKF, SemicUAM group at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid working with Prof. José Manuel Calleja (Juan de la Cierva fellow). On March 2007, Dr. Teran joined IK4-Gaiker Technological Center as Senior researcher (2008 Torres Quevedo fellowship). On April 2009, Dr. Terán joined IMDEA Nanociencia (2012-2017 as a Ramón y Cajal fellowship) to strength the research line on magnetic nanoparticles for biomedical applications. From 2010 to 2013, Dr. Teran led the AFM Service. Since 2012, Dr. Teran is leading the Hyperthermia Lab and since 2014 the Advanced Instrumentation Service.
Ana Pizarro
Dr Ana Pizarro completed a PhD in Chemistry at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 2004 under the supervision of Prof. C. Navarro-Ranninger. In 2004 she was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship (EIF) to work in the laboratory of Prof P. J. Sadler FRS at the University of Edinburgh (UK) on new organometallic drugs. She moved to the University of Warwick (UK) in 2007 where she focused on how selected metallodrugs exert their anticancer effects in tumour cells. In January 2014 she joined IMDEA Nanoscience as a Ramón y Cajal Fellow.
Adriana Arnáiz Vivas
Dr. Adriana Arnáiz Vivas graduated in Veterinary Medicine by Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2007. In 2008, she was granted a Medical Research Council (MRC-UK) studentship to start her PhD in the Cancer Cell Unit at the MRC/Hutchison Research Centre. There, she explored the potential applications of genetics, microbiology and molecular biology in cancer therapy and diagnostics, resulting in the development of a multifunctional theragnostic nanosystem for the encapsulation, distribution and targeted delivery of biological material and drugs to cancer cells, which led her to graduate as a PhD from Cambridge University (UK) in 2013.
She joined IMDEA Nanociencia in 2014 where she researches the use of unique metallodrugs, nanomaterials and nanocarriers for the treatment and diagnosis of tumours in a range of cellular models, from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. In addition to her contribution in the AMP group, she manages the Cell Culture Unit at IMDEA Nanociencia.
Vanessa Rodríguez Fanjul
Dr. Vanessa Rodríguez Fanjul graduated in Biochemistry from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) in 2004. She obtained a PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedicine from the same University in 2011 developing her work at the Spanish Research Council (CSIC). She investigated the role of MKP1 protein on carcinogenesis and on the response to carboplatin (CBDCA) of lung and skin cancer by using both, cellular and animal models. In 2013 she joined NanoOncología Laboratory in IMDEA Nanociencia as Postdoctoral fellow where she studied the cytotoxicity, and uptake and distribution mechanisms of magnetic nanoparticles in different cell lines and cancer stem cells from human glioblastoma multiform (GBM). Currently, she is a post-doctoral researcher in the Laboratory of Metallodrugs at IMDEA Nanociencia, studying the cytotoxic effect, and molecular targets (including the mechanism of action) of different metal complexes of Ru, Ir, Os and Au. She is also part of the NoCanTher project in which she investigates the biological activity of functionalized magnetic nanoparticles in an in vitro setting.
Daniel Ortega
Daniel obtained his PhD in Physics at UCA Cádiz, Spain (2007) and have subsequently worked in Bilbao (2008), London (2009-2012) and Toyohashi, Japan (2013), joining IMDEA Nanociencia in late 2013. He is an external expert working for the European Commission. His scientific career has been mainly devoted to the use of magnetism in medicine, more specifically biocompatible magnetic nanoparticles, working on disruptive techniques for therapeutics, diagnostics and tissue regeneration. Recently he has succeeded in deploying a research branch dedicated to in silico studies of magnetic hyperthermia, being one of the few experts worldwide. He is vice-chair of a European Network on magnetic hyperthermia (cost-radiomag.eu).
Álvaro Somoza
Álvaro Somoza obtained his Ph.D. at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in the group of Prof. Carmen Carreño. Then, he joined the group of Prof. Eric T. Kool at Stanford University, working on the preparation of modified ribonucleosides to study the role of hydrogen bonding interactions between RNA strands in RNA interference. Later on, he joined the group of Prof. Ramón Eritja at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Barcelona, studying the interaction of hydrophobic moieties in RNA derivatives with protein complexes involved in RNA interference. In 2009 he joined IMDEA Nanociencia and in 2014 was promoted to Research Professor.
Begoña Sot
Begoña Sot did her PhD in Universidad del País Vasco, under the supervision of Prof. Arturo Muga, focused on the study of the allosterism of chaperons. Then she worked with Prof. Alan Fersht (Centre for Protein Engineering, Cambridge) gaining knowledge in biophysical characterization of protein-protein interactions. Later she worked with Prof. Alfred Wittinghofer (MPI, Dortmund) studying the activation of G-proteins activity by protein-protein interactions and its regulation by co-localization in cellular membranes. In 2011 she joined Prof. Jose Maria Valpuesta`s group (CNB-CSIC), where she learned Electron Microscopy techniques. Finally, she joined IMDEA in December 2012 as Ramón y Cajal fellow.
Zulay D. Pardo-Botero
Zulay D. Pardo-Botero obtained her Ph.D. at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid under the guidance of Prof. Antonio Herrera Fernández and Roberto Martínez-Álvarez. She worked on the developed and optimization of Ultrafast NMR pulse sequences, to monitor organic reactions in real time, providing reaction mechanisms. In 2016 she joined IMDEA Nanoscience as a research staff, where perform several roles. She is responsible of the NMR spectroscopy laboratory, in charge of the implementation of Nano-materials Caracterization Laboratory under GLP guidance and involved in the synthesis and characterization of connectors for nanoparticles functionalization in the NanoBiotecnology Research Group of Prof. Álvaro Somoza.
Ana C. Carrasco
PhD Student
Ana C. Carrasco graduated in Chemistry in 2015 at the Universidad de Valencia (Spain) carrying out the last academic year at The University of Manchester (United Kingdom) where she worked on the synthesis of enantiopure quaternary amino acid derivatives. Afterwards, she obtained a Master in Science in Organic Chemistry at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) in 2016 working on the field of photo- and organocatalysis. Currently, she is carrying out a research PhD project in the Laboratory of Metallodrugs at IMDEA Nanociencia under the supervision of Dr. Ana M. Pizarro exploring the field of bioinorganic chemistry and organometallic catalysis in biological systems, focusing her research on the development of novel organoiridium switches in cancer research.
Sonia Infante
PhD Student
Sonia Infante studied her Bachelor in Chemistry at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, UCM, at Madrid (Spain). She achieved a Master degree of Science and Technology in ‘Nanoscience’ from the same university in 2016 where she joined to the group of Prof. Reyes Jimenez-Aparicio, working in the field of organometallic chemistry.
At this moment, she is doing a PhD degree in organometallic synthesis and bioinorganic chemistry. In particular, synthesizing osmium organometallic complexes with applications as anticancer drugs at IMDEA Nanoscience.
Irene Rubia
PhD Student
Irene finished the Nursery degree in 2011 at Universidad Francisco de Vitoria. A year after, she started the Biomedical Engineering degree at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid but left it in standby in 2015 to access the MSc in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedicine at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. During those years she completed her expertise in Genetic Medicine given by Universitat de València. She was granted a scholarship by Exina program to study her MSc which concluded in 2016 with a thesis in bioinformatics, developing algorithms to analyse proteomics results in clinical samples. She joined IMDEA Nanociencia in 2017 as a PhD Student in Avanced Materials and Nanotechnology under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Ortega. Her research is currently focused on the development of a software platform to perform in silico trials on magnetic hyperthermia.
Ana Belén Latorre
PhD Student
Ana Latorre studied Biology at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where she also obtained her master degree in Genetics a Cellular Biology. Her work was focused on the development of different nanostructures functionalized with drugs and nucleic acids for the treatment of breast cancer and uveal melanoma.
Currently, she is carrying out her PhD at IMDEA Nanociencia under the supervision of Dr. Álvaro Somoza.
Paula Milán Rois
PhD Student
Paula Milán Rois obtained her degree at the “Universidad Autónoma de Madrid”. She´s worked with Magdalena Cañete in the antineoplastic therapy based on the combination of a traditional chemotherapeutic and a photodynamic drug; to internalize this treatment silica nanoparticles were used.
Currently she is carrying out her PhD at IMDEA Nanociencia under the supervision of Dr. Álvaro Somoza
Eduardo García Garrido
PhD Student
Eduardo García Garrido studied Chemistry at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2011-2015) where he also obtained his master degree in Organic Chemistry (2016) working in the synthesis of different phthalocyanines derivatives and its precursors.
From February 2017, he happily started his PhD at IMDEA Nanociencia under the supervision of Dr. Álvaro Somoza. His actual work is focused in the synthesis of linkers to control the biological activity of modified nanoparticles.
Nuria Lafuente Gómez
PhD Student
Nuria Lafuente Gómez obtained her degree in Pharmacy with honors at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. With a collaboration scholarship in the Chemistry in Pharmaceutical Sciences Department, she worked under the guidance of Dr. Victoria Cabañas and Dr. Juan Luis Paris in the development of ceramic-hydrogel scaffolds with mesoporous silica nanoparticles loaded with antibiotics to treat infections in bone prosthetics.
Currently, she is carrying out her PhD at IMDEA Nanociencia under the supervision of Dr. Álvaro Somoza.
Ciro Rodríguez
PhD Student
Ciro Rodríguez studied Chemistry at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where he also obtained his master degree in Organic Chemistry under the guidance of Prof. M. Ribagorda, his work was focused on 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions between 2,5-diaryltetrazoles and quinones for the synthesis of fluorescent glycosylated pyrazoloquinones.
Currently he started his PhD in Organic Chemistry at IMDEA Nanociencia under the supervision of Dr. Álvaro Somoza.
Demian Pardo
PhD Student
Demian Pardo studied Biochemistry at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where he also obtained his master´s degree in biotechnology. He worked as laboratory technician at ¨Instituto de Química Orgánica General¨ at the oligosaccharides and glycosystems group in Spain.
Currently, he is carrying out his PhD at IMDEA Nanociencia under the supervision of Dr. Álvaro Somoza.