Dr. Yolanda Bel (ORCID 0000-0002-6367-9220)
holds a degree in
Biology with a major in Biochemistry. She obtained her Ph.D. in Biology from
the University of Valencia (UV), Spain, in 1991. Her doctoral thesis (“Pteridines
and Their Relationship with the Hydroxylation of Phenylalanine: (1) In Vivo and
In Vitro Studies in Drosophila melanogaster and (2) Analyses of Human Mutants
with Altered Phenylalanine Levels”) was conducted jointly at the Dep. of
Genetics (UV) and the Biology Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(Tennessee, USA), and received the highest distinction: Outstanding “Cum
Laude”. She completed her postdoctoral training (1992–1993) at Sandoz
(Basel, Switzerland), working on DNA adducts. She returned to Spain after being awarded a competitive contract for the
reintegration of researchers by the Ministry of Education and Science
(1993-1996), to start working with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). After
a six years interval working in the private sector on microbiology of water and
food, in 2003 she rejoined the University of Valencia, where she currently
works as a Research Associate. She has published 60 scientific papers
(including book chapters) and holds an h-index of 24. Her current
research interests include the study of pteridines, novel Bt strains, the mode
of action of Bt toxins, and the basis of
insect resistance. She is a member of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology,
the Spanish Society of Applied Entomology and the Spanish Society of Genetics.
Juan Ferré, Prof. of Genetics and Head of the
Inst. of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED) at the University of
Valencia (UV), Spain. I graduated in Chemistry in 1978 and received my PhD in
Chemistry by the UV in 1984, with the work “Study of the pteridines and
quinolines from Drosophila melanogaster
eyes”, which was carried out in both the Dep. of Genetics of the UV and the
Biology Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (TN, USA). I did my
postdoc in the Dep. of Reproductive Genetics of the Magee Womens Hospital
(Pittsburgh, PA, USA) studying inborn errors of pterin metabolism. I served as
Head of the Dep. of Genetics of the UV for 7 years. Since 1989, I had
sabbatical leaves at the University of Hawaii and the Univ. of Tenessee (USA),
and at Plant Genetic Systems (Belgium). I published 183 articles and 16 book
chapters, and have an h-index of 52. I
started my scientific career studying the biochemical genetics of eye-pigments
in insects. More recent interests are the biochemical and genetic bases of
insect resistance to Bacillus
thuringiensis toxins, used to control insect pests. I’ve been a member of
the International Society of Pteridinology (1988-1996) and of the editorial
board of the journal Pteridines (1993-2003).
Currently, I’m a member of the International Society for Invertebrate Pathology
and the Spanish Society of Applied Entomology. In 2016 I received the “Award
Research and Development” in the frame of the XXI Edition of Awards UV-Society.
