I am a Parasitologist with expertise in epidemiology, immunology, and control strategies for parasites of veterinary and zoonotic importance including Cryptosporidium, Babesia, Theileria, Toxoplasma, Neospora, and Cyclospora. I graduated from the University of Zaragoza Veterinary School, Spain, and received my Ph.D. degree on Parasitology from the same university. My Ph.D. on the epidemiology and control of gastrointestinal nematode parasites in cattle was awarded the First Iberian award sponsored by Merck Sharp and Dohme Corporation. I did a postdoctoral stay at Agriculture Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in Beltsville, MD, in Parasite Immunology before returning to Spain to become Associate Professor at the Veterinary School of Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and Associate Researcher at the Center for Animal Research (CRESA), as well as a member of the European Veterinary Parasitologist College (EVPC) for more than 15 years.
I am currently a Research Microbiologist at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Office of Applied Research and Safety Assessment (OARSA) since 2016. My main work is the development, evaluation, and validation of methods for the detection and characterization of foodborne and waterborne parasites, particularly Cyclospora.