Patricia Gonzalez Iglesias

I am a Biology graduate specialised in Molecular Microbiology / Microbial Pathogenesis. I have spent more than 12 years working on the molecular analysis of virulence mechanisms of different pathogenic bacteria.

I began my research work as an undergraduate student in the Microbiology and Immunology Section of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of León, Spain. This was followed by my Master studies, which focused on the virulence factors of Aeromonas hydrophila.

In 2007 I began work at the University of Edinburgh with a position held in the Microbial Pathogenesis Unit of the Institute of Immunology and Infection Research. My research was focused on the functional analysis of the genome of the intracellular pathogen Rhodococcus equi. The aim of this research was to identify and characterise new virulence pathways used by these bacteria to interact with the host. The final objective was to identify novel vaccine targets.

On June 2013 I moved to the Edinburgh Napier University School of Applied Sciences where I was responsible for the management of various labs and line management of the Microbiology Technical Team. This represented a different direction for my career. While not directly carrying out research, I gained valuable experience in Line and Facilities management.

The experience at Napier placed me in an excellent position for January 2021 when I re-joined University of Edinburgh as Manager of the Biophysics Labs at the School of Physics and Astronomy.