I am from Elche in Alicante, Spain. I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology at Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Spain, in 2016. As an undergraduate student, I got two mobility scholarships: the first one was the SICUE program, an exchange for one year between Spanish University Centres. I went to the University of Salamanca, where I also developed my final degree project. The second mobility scholarship was an Erasmus+ Traineeship; I joined Utrecht University for four months participating in the development of nanobodies for immuno-gold labelling. In 2017 I received my Master’s degree in Biomolecules and Cell Dynamics at Autonomous University of Madrid. During my college years I have always been interested in the molecular mechanisms that underlie physiological and pathological processes, and the application of this knowledge.
Being part of TAPAS is an amazing opportunity to be part of an international research network, improve my professional profile and skills, get to know different points of view and push me to new goals. I am based at University of Reading, UK, under the supervision of Dr. Craig Hughes and Prof. Jon Gibbins. In my second year I will be based at University of Würzburg, Germany under the supervision of Dr. David Stegner and Prof. Bernhard Nieswandt. In my final year I will have a 3-month secondment at Pivot Park Screening Centre, Netherlands under the supervision of Dr. Helma Rutjes, after which I will return to University of Reading.
As a PhD student on project TAPAS I’m working on the Early Stage Researcher project “Generation and functional testing of novel biologics targeting glycoprotein receptors”. The aim of my project is to develop tools to investigate how GPVI clustering regulates the early stages of signalling/signal initiation, identify proteins involved in GPVI cluster formation, and modulate platelet function with biologics which target GPVI, assessing these for the potential therapeutic benefits of GPVI-targeting biologics in vivo.