My main interests revolve around computational solutions in the field of entomology, with special focus on bioinformatics and molecular biology. My doctoral studies in the Department of Organic Biological Chemistry of the CID-CSIC of Barcelona were in the field of insect integrated pest control. The main topics of my doctoral thesis were the study of the electrophysiological and behavioral activity of semiochemical compounds and their synthetic analogues and several publications ensued from this work (Chem Senses 1999, 24(5), 473480; J Chem Ecol 2001, 27(9), 18791897; J Chem Ecol 2002, 28(7), 14631472). It is worthy of mention that an important part of the work consisted in the development of computer tools for the analysis of experimental video monitoring of insect flight in response to attractive compounds. This kind of work defined my early interest in computational applications to biological questions. During my postdoctoral stay at the University of California, Riverside with Prof. Ring T. Cardé, I developed computer tools for the analysis of electrophysiological data that I applied to the study of the temporal resolution of olfactory stimuli pulsed at a high frequency on the lepidopteran antenna (J Insect Physiol 2002, 48(4), 433442; Chem Senses 2005, 30(9), 771780). My interest and motivation towards the development and application of computer tools for the resolution of biological problems led me to join a project oriented to the computational simulation of strategies for the location of sources of emission of volatile compounds by insects. This long-term project allowed me to maintain cooperation with Prof. Cardé and resulted in two publications (Integr Comp Biol 2015, icv036; J Chem Ecol 2016, 42, 877887). In 2006 I joined the Department of Systems Biology at the University of Vic. My activity since then has combined teaching and university management as coordinator of the Biology and Biotechnology degrees and research as a member of the Bioinformatics and Medical Statistics Research Group (BEM). My incorporation into the research group allowed me to study and apply the use of databases and bioinformatics tools to the study of various types of data (gene expression, sequence analysis, functional study, etc.) (PACBB 2011, pp. 201-204). During the last few years, I’ve been collaborating with Dr. Xavier Bellés and Dr. Dolors Piulachs from IBE in the study of piRNAs of Blatella germanica. My participation in this project has been centered on the bioinformatic analysis of transcriptomic data for the identification of B. germanica piRNAs (J. Exp. Zool. Evol. 2018 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22815). Recently, I've also collaborated with Dr. César Gemeno at the Department of Plant Production and Forest Sciences in the study of residual pesticide effect on Tortricid lepidoptera (Scientific Reports 2019 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44581-w).
Spain