Detection of lipid bio-signatures (molecular and isotopic) in extreme environments with Martian analogy

Supervisor: Laura Sánchez-García

Pablo graduated with an Honours Degree in Immunology in the University of Glasgow, Scotland (2017) with an Erasmus+ scholarship at Lund University, Sweden. He obtained his Master of Science (MSc) at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada, 2020) with a research project related to cancer immunology with an emphasis on the use of antibodies to isolate and sort specific immune cells.

After his MSc, he joined Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) as a PhD Candidate with a Contract for the Development of Doctors 2020 (FPI María de Maeztu) to work with biomarkers in extreme environments. Within the group of Biomolecules in Planetary Exploration, his project consists in identifying lipid compounds as biomarkers in terrestrial extreme environments with analogy to Mars or to Europa and Enceladus, the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively.

In addition, his group contributes to improve and augment the detection capacity of the Signs Of LIfe Detector instrument (SOLID) by exploring the conjugation of known lipid biomarkers with antibodies of high specificity.

ORCID: 0000-0002-9215-5389