About the talk

Mosquitoes are the most deadly animals in the world, due to the pathogens they transmit to humans, wildlife and livestock. In recent decades, the mosquito microbiota is receiving special attention as a modulator of pathogen transmission by affecting vector survival and pathogen development inside the mosquito, among others. In my thesis we explore the interactions between mosquitoes, their microbiota and the transmission of avian pathogens, from a molecular point of view. For this purpose, we use a natural system from southern Spain, including mosquito vectors of the genus Culex, avian malaria parasites and West Nile virus.

About the speaker

I studied Biology at University of Seville. Then I studied a Master's degree in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO) and a Master's degree in Bioinformatic and Biostatistics (UOC). During the masters, I joined the Jordi Figuerola lab at the EBD with a JAE-Intro grant to study different factors of mosquito vectors. In September 2022 I started my PhD at the University of Granada, focused on mosquitoes, their microbiota and avian pathogen transmission, and supervised by Josué Martínez de la Puente and María José Ruiz López. I recently moved to the EBD to continue my PhD thesis.