AAAR 37th Annual Conference October 14 - October 18, 2019 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Mara Otero-Fernández, PhD Student, Bio Science Area
MARA OTERO-FERNANDEZ, University of Bristol
Abstract Number: 424 Working Group: Meet the Job Seekers
Abstract Technological advances in the biosciences continue to open new growth opportunities to confront challenges in the future. Personally, I believe an enormous potential for the advantage of society lies in the Life Sciences whose applications in health, agriculture, medicine, and the pharmaceutical and food industries are helpful in improving the quality and standard of life. I’m motivated to contribute to these ongoing innovations and feel that my background and research experience are in line with my professional interests.
During my studies at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), my focus was on Analytical and Environmental Chemistry and I was also especially involved in R&D in the area of toxicology. In my research thesis, I played a crucial role in the development of a robust methodology to quantify the presence of narcotics in biological samples for toxicological application. These studies have been published in Analytica Chimica Acta (Otero-Fernández et al., 2013).
Further to my academic studies, I have industrial experience working as a production chemist within the ceramics industry, performing quality control of materials involved in manufacturing processes.
Afterward, I acquired funding for a short-term research project by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission to work in the lab of Prof. Jonathan Reid at the University of Bristol. I had the pleasure to collaborate in the initial development of a novel approach named CELEBS to interconnect the complexity of aerosol dynamics with bioaerosol longevity, aiming to fully understand the mechanisms of airborne transmission. This research opportunity led into a research assistant position and subsequently in my current Ph.D. project, contributing to a new partnership between DSTL and Bristol University. These studies have been published in the Royal Society Interface (Otero-Fernandez et al., 2019).
Upon the completion of my Ph.D. in May 2020, I would relish the opportunity to delve deep into these subjects with a postdoctoral or industrial position where my work could contribute to a better understanding of the fields of airborne disease dynamics and treatment.