I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Endocrine Regulatory Genomics laboratory, led by Dr. Lorenzo Pasquali (MELIS-UPF). My background combines knowledge in the fields of biomedicine and computational biology, which has allowed me to specialize in the use and development of bioinformatics to analyze and understand the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate gene expression.

My scientific career has focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of T1D from the perspective of pancreatic β-cells. My thesis aimed to answer the following question: Are β-cells involved in the pathophysiology of T1D? We demonstrated that T1D risk-associated variants, located in regulatory elements of β-cells that are activated in response to a pro-inflammatory environment, affect their ability to activate their target genes. This represents a paradigm shift in the way we understand T1D, as it shows that β-cells play an active role in the development of the disease. This work was awarded the Best Scientific Article by a PhD Student and an Extraordinary Doctoral Award.

I am also committed to publicly and openly sharing the results generated by my research, both in the form of software packages (UMI4Cats) and by creating web platforms to facilitate access for non-expert bioinformatics scientists (Islet Regulome Browser). I have also taught several university courses and conducted workshops at various levels. For the past 6 years, I have organized the R-Ladies Barcelona chapter, which is dedicated to promoting the role of women in the R programming world.