Content with Investigacion Estudio de la relación exposición y respuesta en el tratamiento con antifungicos .

• Alicia Gómez López

  Research Scientist

  ORCID code: 0000-0003-2780-5039

  Doctor of Pharmacy from the Complutense University of Madrid and specialist in Microbiology and Parasitology via FIR (La Paz Hospital, Madrid). He completed his doctoral thesis at the Reference and Research Laboratory in Mycology under the supervision of Manuel Cuenca-Estrella. Currently a career civil servant in the Scientific Scale of O.P.I. at the Reference and Research Laboratory in Mycology.

  Since 2010, he has been leading a line of research that seeks to advance clinical resistance in fungal infection through the study of dose/response relationships, the evaluation of PK/PD parameters of antifungals and their role in efficacy, as well as the study of biofilms as strategies that favour the resistance of fungal cells to the action of antifungals and immune cells. This line of research has resulted in the development and application of chromatographic methods (UPLC-UV) for antifungal monitoring and the characterisation of fungal biomolecules indicative of infection progression, which are useful for evaluating treatment response and diagnosis. Some of these methodologies have been validated according to protocols defined by the EMA and have been recognised by ENAC as valid methods for monitoring azoles in clinical samples. They are currently part of LRIM's portfolio of services and are in high demand as this methodology is not always available in clinical laboratories.

   

  This line of research has been active since 2009, with continuous funding through various competitive calls from the AES as well as other collaborative private funding projects (9 Research Projects as IP in the period 2010-2025, Strategic Action in Health, AES FIS-ISCIII, calls for proposals 2009, 2013, 2016, 2021 and 2025; 22 research projects leading/collaborating in experimental or technological developments in the period 2000-2025).
• Beatriz Bellido Samaniego

  Senior Technician Facultative Specialist

  Ms. Bellido-Samaniego holds a Degree in Pharmacy from the Complutense University of Madrid (1995) and a Master’s Degree in Microbiology and Parasitology (Complutense University of Madrid, 2016). She joined the Mycology Reference and Research Laboratory (LRIM) in January 2024. She has developed a broad multidisciplinary professional career within the field of microbiology. Since 1997, she has been affiliated with the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), initially as a Research Trainee (1997–2000) and subsequently as Head of the Legionella Laboratory at the National Microbiology Center (2000–2023), where she carried out national reference activities.
  She currently serves as Quality Management System Coordinator at the Mycology Reference and Research Laboratory, overseeing accredited reference analyses under ENAC standards. She has co-authored one scientific publication and one book chapter and has participated in three national and international scientific conferences.
• Leticia Bernal Martínez

  Staff Scientist

  ORCID code: 0000-0002-1694-5522

  Dr. Bernal-Martínez obtained her degree in Biochemistry from the University of Zaragoza in 2005. She joined the Mycology Reference and Research Laboratory (LRIM) in 2006 under a trainee contract and completed her PhD within the Official Doctoral Program in Microbiology and Parasitology at the Complutense University of Madrid, defending her thesis in 2010 with highest honors (Cum Laude). In 2007, she continued her research activity at LRIM within the framework of the Spanish Network for Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI). In 2016, she completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Promotion and Management of International Projects (Technical University of Madrid) and undertook a research stay at the Microbiology and Infection Research Domain, Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho (Braga, Portugal). She was subsequently appointed as a PhD researcher within the Biomedical Research Networking Center in Infectious Diseases (CIBERINFEC). Since 2024, she serves as Specialist Scientist at the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) and is responsible for the Diagnostic and Serology Section for Endemic Fungi at the Mycology Reference and Research Laboratory.
  Dr. Bernal-Martínez has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications and two book chapters. She has actively participated in over 12 research projects and has presented her work at numerous national and international scientific conferences. Her research has focused on human fungal infections, antifungal resistance, therapeutic drug monitoring, genetic variants associated with antifungal metabolism, and the identification of predictive biomarkers of invasive fungal infections. However, her primary expertise lies in the diagnostic field, particularly in the design, optimization, and validation of real-time PCR–based methodologies.
  She is currently Principal Investigator of a research project aimed at improving current diagnostic techniques for invasive fungal infections, evaluating emerging diagnostic technologies, and studying primary fungal pathogens. A substantial part of her work has been transferred to the Spanish National Health System and to research centers in Latin America. Many of the diagnostic methodologies developed have been incorporated into the official service portfolio of ISCIII. She has collaborated with multiple hospitals through research projects and clinical trials applying these technologies, as well as with the ISCIII spin-off company Micomol S.L.
  Dr. Bernal-Martínez has supervised several Master’s and Undergraduate Final Degree Projects from students at the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Alcalá. She is a member of the teaching staff of the UNED-ISCIII PhD Program in Biomedical Sciences and Public Health and serves as lecturer in the Master’s Program in Public Health and Research in Infectious Diseases at the University of Alcalá.

List of staff