Lellys M. Contreras is an Assistant Professor at the University of Almería. She completed her PhD at the University of Murcia in 2000 and her undergraduate studies at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in 1994. In 2000, she began her role as an Assistant Professor in the Experimental Faculty of Sciences and Technology at the University of Carabobo, Venezuela. From 2001 to 2006, she served as the head of the Biology Department and director of the bachelor’s degree program in Biology at the University of Carabobo. In 2006, she received one of the 62 grants awarded by the Generalitat Valenciana for Guest Researchers’ Stays. In 2007, she was awarded one of the 119 grants from the Secretary of State for Universities and Research, which allowed her to complete her postdoctoral work at Universidad Miguel Hernández. Upon returning to the Universidad de Carabobo in 2008, she was promoted to Full Professor (tenured) in 2011. From 2008 to 2014, she established her research laboratory, focusing on the folding, structure, and stability of proteins of biotechnological interest. In 2018, she retired from her position as a University Professor at Universidad de Carabobo and joined the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology division as a Visiting Professor in 2019. Since 2022, she has been serving as an Assistant Professor at the University of Almería. Her research focuses on the biochemical characterization of thermophilic enzymes and their immobilization to develop more robust biocatalysts.
Josefa María Clemente-Jiménez is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Almería. She obtained her PhD in Chemistry in 2001 at the University of Almería (Spain). Her thesis on the production of L-amino acids from hydantoins as substrates was funded by the company DSM-Deretil. In 2001, she stayed for post-doctoral research at the Institute of Industrial Genetics at the University of Stuttgart (Germany). She became an Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Almería (Spain) in 2002. There, she has been teaching Biochemistry and Molecular Biology to chemistry and biotechnology degree students. Her research has been focused on the study of enzymes as biocatalysts and their industrial applications. She is the author of several articles in different fields: fermentative processes to produce alcoholic beverages, isolation and immobilization of proteins for the production of natural and non-natural amino acids, and new enzymes from thermophilic microorganisms to degrade waste compounds. Most of her research has been developed together with industries from different sectors, such as pharmaceutical, wine, and agricultural. Currently, she is head of a research group (CTS492 Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) and a member of the Spanish Society of Microbiology (SEM).
Francisco Javier Las Heras-Vázquez is an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Physics, University of Almería. He graduated in Chemistry from the University of Almeria in 1994 and obtained a PhD in Chemistry from the same university in 1998. After post-doctoral work in 2001 at the Institute of Biochemical Engineering of the University of Stuttgart, he returned to the University of Almeria as an Assistant Professor in the research group of Prof. Felipe Rodriguez-Vico. In 2004, he was appointed Associate Professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology until now. His work has been focused on the development of multi-enzymatic systems for the production of optically pure alpha and beta-amino acids as precursors of antibiotics and other compounds of interest. Biotransformation systems have been developed based on enzymatic cascades made up of two, three, or four enzymes, which have transformed cheap substrates into products with high added value, such as the aforementioned amino acids. Also, he has participated in the study of recombinant enzymes in different systems, both in their native and mutated forms. More recently, he has focused on the immobilization of the developed biotransformation systems in order to confer new properties, such as increased thermostability and reuse of immobilized biocatalysts.
