María J. Sánchez-Quintero studied for her PhD inthe Allergy Department at the IBIMA Institute in Malaga, Spain, where she focused her research on immunology and inflammatory responses in drug allergies. After obtaining her Ph.D. degree, she decided to move to the United States to develop her scientific career as a postdoctoral researcher. In her first postdoctoral period, she joined Dr. Diane W. Taylor’s lab at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. There, she continued her formation as an immunologist, focusing her research on the immunology of malaria in pregnant women. After this period, her scientific curiosity to understand the underlying mechanisms ofcell metabolism encouraged her to join Dr. Michio Hirano’s lab in the Neurology Department ofColumbia University in New York. Over 4 years, she acquired a wide knowledge of metabolism and mitochondrial biology, performing high-level translational research in mitochondrial diseases, using human biopsies, human cell lines (HeLa and hiPSC) and different mouse models. In November 2020, she joined the Spanish Biomedical Research Networking Center (CIBER) as a senior postdoctoral researcher. Currently, she is focusing her research on the role of microbiota and metabolism in ischemich heart diseases within Dr. Manuel Jimenez's group.
Cristina Rodríguez-Díaz graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the University of León in 2008. In 2009, she obtained a Master's degree in Food Biotechnology from the University of Oviedo. In 2010, she obtained a complementary Master's degree in Specialized Veterinary Medicine at the University of Liège. In October 2010, she started her doctoral studies at the same university, which she finished in July 2016, obtaining the title of European Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. She has published 18 scientific publications as a first author, most of them in international journals in her discipline. She has participated in the writing and development of eight different research projects with competitive funding at the autonomous or state level. She has presented numerous scientific communications at national and international congresses and twice won the Best Poster award at the IAFP European Congress. She has been a teaching assistant and researcher at the University of Liège (2014–2016). With research experience of more than seven years abroad (six years as a predoctoral fellow and 18 months as a postdoctoral fellow), she currently enjoys a postdoctoral fellowship (Université de Liège (BE)–IBIMA FIMABIS (ES) awarded within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions FP7 CoFund program).
Carlos López-Gómez obtained his PhD in 2013 in the Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis research group at IBIMA in Malaga under the direction of Dr. Laura Leyva and Dr. Óscar Fernández. He focused his research on the study of TRAIL and TRAIL receptor genes in susceptibility to multiple sclerosis and the response to IFN-beta therapy. During this period, he published three research articles as first author, as well as several articles as co-author, and he received one poster award. After his PhD, he moved to the United States for his postdoctoral training. There, he worked as a postdoctoral research scientist in Michio Hirano’s laboratory within the Department of Neurology at Columbia University in New York City. There, he studied TK2 deficiency, an autosomal recessive disorder affecting mitochondrial DNA and usually manifesting as a myopathy or encephalomyopathy. In March 2019, he moved back to Malaga to join the Eduardo García Fuentes Lab at IBIMA with a Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación grant. Here, he is currently studying genetic and environmental factors associated with Crohn's disease under a Miguel Servet contract (tenure track) at IBIMA.
