As ESR11, this project is conceived to help identify potential chiral intermediates whose syntheses can be intensified and exploited in industrial sectors such as pharma, agrochemical or fragrances. The researcher ESR11 will recruit known TDP-dependent carboligases for novel applications. Next, they will assess their tolerance for aldehydes and solvents and engineer the enzymes to increase their stability. Finally, they will use the improved catalysts for preparative biocatalysis and progress towards scaling up the process.

I studied Biochemistry at the University of Barcelona (UB). For my bachelor thesis I moved to Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany) where I joined the Pharmaceutical Biology and Biotechnology Department in order to study the biosynthetic pathway of mensacarcin. Afterwards, I did my Master in Applied Microbiology in the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and did my practicums as a lab technician in the quality control department of a small industry. My scientific interests are: Molecular biology, optimization, genetic engineering, protein expression and purification, metabolic pathways and organic chemistry. In my free time I love dancing, hiking, horse riding and many other sports. I also enjoy traveling, cooking, reading, listening to music and meeting with friends. I became a scientist because I have always been so curious about how different things work. When I was a young, for Christmas, I always wanted the “chemistry kit” for kids. It fascinated me that you could create different things from scratch by mixing different reagents. When I was at high school, I chose the biological sciences branch because I loved biology, genetics and chemistry and when I started doing lab work, I knew I was in the right path. At the same time, I am not very fond of computational work and routine work. I am very enthusiastic about getting to know new cultures, people, landscapes and doing just about anything with my friends and having a good time. My goal is to keep working in the same investigation field, maybe staying abroad and not returning in Spain for some time.