In 1997, after obtaining the Bachelor’s degree in Physics, I
became member of the Biocolloid and Fluid Physics Group (UGR). Under financial
support from a National fellowship, FPU (1998/2001), I got the PhD in Physics
(December 2001). From April to September 2002 I worked as Assistant Lecturer in the
Department of Physics at the University of Extremadura. Then, I became postdoc in the
Centre for Computational Chemistry and the BP Institute (Cambridge, UK) for 1 year
(October 2002-September 2003), funded by the Ramón Areces Foundation (Spain). In
October 2003 I became Collaborating Professor in the Department of Applied Physics
(UGR). In June 2005 I promoted to Contracted Lecturer and in October 2008 to
Associate Professor. During this period I performed a 1-month stay at the Helmholtz
Zentrum Berlin (Germany), a 1-week stay at the Freie Universität Berlin (Germany),
and became awarded by the Fulbright Program to perform a stay in the SEAS
(University of Harvard, USA) as a Senior Fellow during 6 months (February-July 2018).
Very recently (October 2019), I passed the competitive examination to be Full
Professor. I have supervised 4 PhD students with European or international mention
and 11 Master Thesis.
My research comprises diverse topics in the field of Colloidal Science. I have mainly
used theoretical methods (theory of liquids, integral equations theory, equilibrium and
non-equilibrium density functional theory for classical fluids) and computer simulations
(Brownian Dynamics, Monte Carlo, Stochastic Rotation Dynamics) to investigate the
equilibrium and non-equilibrium properties of soft matter systems: 1) Study of 2 and 3-
dimensional aggregation, heteroaggregation and simultaneous sedimentation-
aggregation, including hydrodynamic effects. 2) Formation of colloidal structures in 2
and 3-dimensions. 3) Effective interactions, structure, phase behavior and interfacial
properties of colloid-polymer and binary charged colloidal mixtures. 4) Swelling
behavior, effective interactions and ionic permeation in charged microgel suspensions.
Study of the uptake/release of biomolecules/drugs in microgel particles for Biomedical
applications.
My research work has involved collaborations with international scientists (Ard
Louis, Jean-Pierre Hansen, Joachim Dzubiella, among others). I have participate in 54
conferences (1 plenary, 5 invited talks, and 12 talks). I was a member of the organizing
committee in 3 meetings.
I have been the principal investigator of two national research projects:
MAT2012-36270-C04-02 “Structure and interactons in soft nanoparticle systems
(nanogels and liposomes)” (29 JCR papers, 5 book chapters and 31 conferences) and
FIS2016-80087-C2-1-P “Interactions and collective properties of nanogel/microgel-
based soft matter systems of biotechnological interest” (29 JCR papers and chapters
and 23 conferences), both focused on the investigation of microgels as transport and
delivery systems. I also participated in other 7 projects, and performed a research
collaboration with two private companies (OPERON S.A. and IKERLAT Polymers). I
published scientific papers in high impact factor journals as ACS Nano (impact 13.7),
Phys. Rev. Letts. (7.62), COCIS (6.23) or Macromolecules (5.91). In total, I published 3
book chapters and 55 articles, 42 in Q1 and 14 in D1. My h-index is 19, with a
total amount of 927 citations and a ratio citations/year of 82.2 in the last 5 years
(JCR). Finally, I got 3 sexenios CNEAI (last in 2015).
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