Agronomic Engineer. Full Professor. 

Professor and researcher at the School of Agricultural Engineering of the Technical University of Cartagena (UPCT). She began her predoctoral research at CEBAS-CSIC and completed her PhD at UPCT in 2003. She subsequently undertook two international postdoctoral research stays: at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis, California, USA, 2004) and at Plant & Food Research (Auckland, New Zealand, 2005). Her research lines focus on postharvest technology of fruit and vegetables, fresh-cut products, and the application of emerging technologies to preserve bioactive compounds, regulate postharvest metabolism, and maintain product quality. Her research also includes the valorisation of agri-food biowaste from a circular economy perspective, with particular emphasis on reducing food loss and waste.

Her interest in translating scientific research into solutions with a tangible impact on society led her to found the university spin-off company, BIODIVERSO COSMETIC, dedicated to developing natural cosmetics from fruit, vegetables and their by-products, harnessing the bioactive compounds present in these raw materials for skin care. The company has received four awards: the IV Environmental Sustainability Awards, the National Eco-Innovation Award, the Best University Start-Up 2025- Santander X Award, and the Award for the Best Utility Model by a Woman Inventor, granted by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM). BIODIVERSO COSMETIC is thus an example of the integration of scientific research, circular economy, knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship.

From 2016 to 2019, she served as Innovation Coordinator within the Vice-Rectorate for Innovation and Enterprise at UPCT. She is currently Head of the Food Quality and Health Unit at UPCT´s Institute of Plant Biotechnology and a member of the Postharvest and Refrigeration Research Group. From 2017 to 2021, she was Director of the Research Chair Marnys-UPCT. She is also a member of the National Committee for Scientific Integrity and the Gadea Foundation for Science.

Among the main indicators of her academic, research and knowledge-transfer career are five officially recognised six-year periods (sexenios), four in research and one in knowledge transfer, and an H-index of 34. She has participated in 30 research projects funded through competitive national and European programmes and in 24 teaching innovation projects. She has also participated in 36 R&D contracts with companies, acting as Principal Investigator in 26 of them, and is co-inventor of 11 patents and/or utility models. She has supervised 13 PhD theses, three of which received a European Doctorate distinction, and is currently supervising three more. Her scientific output includes more than 120 articles in indexed scientific journals (SCI/JCR), 24 articles in other scientific journals, 19 book chapters, 20 publications in Acta Horticulturae, and more than 150 contributions to scientific conferences. She serves on the editorial boards of Applied Sciences and Journal of Food Quality. Her research activity has also been recognised on three occasions with the Isaac Peral y Caballero Award, which acknowledges outstanding research groups at UPCT.

She is currently the main coordinator of the European FUSION project, funded under the PRIMA Programme, which aims to develop innovative and sustainable solutions to reduce food loss and waste across Mediterranean agri-food supply chains. With a total budget of 4.6 million, the project brings together partners from eight countries.

With five officially recognised five-year teaching periods, she teaches Food Technology at both undergraduate and Master¿s level and serves as Erasmus Coordinator for four universities. In addition to her research, teaching and knowledge-transfer activities, she maintains a strong commitment to science communication and the promotion of healthy eating habits among young people. With this aim, she led the project Curtain Up: Fruit, Vegetables and Action!, funded by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), which seeks to bring knowledge about fruit and vegetables, food, and agricultural engineering closer to schoolchildren.

 'Simplicity is the greatest refinement-Leonardo Da Vince.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0052-4168