Dr Lorena Fernández-Martínez

Profile

Biography

I have always been fascinated about Biology, since an early age when I learned that Biology means the study of life and I felt that life was definitely worth studying! Later on, I became interested in genetics as a way of understanding molecular mechanisms and as an undergraduate student in Swansea University I finally developed my interest for the wonderful Streptomyces bacterial genus, it’s complex biology and intricate regulatory pathways which lead to the production of many useful compounds such as antibiotics.

After being an undergraduate in Swansea University I decided to continue my research in Prof. Paul Dyson’s laboratory, working on the regulation of stress responses in the bacterial genus Streptomyces, and obtaining my PhD in 2008.

I then moved onto a post-doctoral position in INBIOTEC, a biotechnology institute in León, Spain, working on signal transduction, genome sequencing and proteome analysis in Actinobacteria.

In 2011 I joined Prof. Mervyn Bibb’s research group as a post-doctoral scientist at the John Innes Centre working on the regulation of several antibiotics including chloramphenicol, cinnamycin and the medically relevant gene cluster leading to the production of the novel lantibiotic microbisporicin. I also developed genetic tools to work with actinomycetes and worked with Prof. Barrie Wilkinson studying virulence factors in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa in order to use these as potential drug targets.

In 2015 I joined the fantastic Biology Department at EHU as a Senior Lecturer in Microbial Genetics.  I am also final year tutor for all of the programmes in the Biology Department.

Research Interests

My research interests are focused on understanding the complex regulatory pathways that lead to antibiotic production in Actinobacteria with a particular interest in lantibiotics as well as the study of the regulation of resistance mechanisms in antibiotic producing bacteria (the likely source of clinically relevant antibiotic resistance) and to characterise new gene clusters encoding novel compounds with antibiotic activity. To know more about my research group and current projects please visit the Actinomycetes Biology and Antibiotic discovery research page.

Teaching

• Programme Leader for BSc (Hons) Genetics
• Final year tutor for all Biology Department Degrees
• Modules taught include:

•     Cellular Form and Function (Module Leader)
•     Molecular Genetics (Module Leader)
•     Laboratory Masterclass (Tutor)
•     Research Methods in Biology (Tutor)
•     Final Year Dissertation (Module Leader)
•     Applications of Genetics (Tutor)
•     Current Issues in Biology (Tutor)