Young Investigator Award
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to announce that the winner of the Toxins 2022 Young Investigator Award is Dr. Paz Otero Fuertes.
Dr. Paz Otero Fuertes is a senior researcher of the Analytical and Food Chemistry Department at the University of Vigo, Galicia, Spain. Dr. Paz Otero Fuertes’s research interests are in food safety, toxicology, pharmacology, marine bioactive compounds, microalgae, purification, phycotoxins, cyanotoxins, and mycotoxins. Dr. Otero has published 56 papers (20 as a first or corresponding/last author), 10 book chapters (4 as the first author), and 10 conference proceedings; her Hirsch index is 27. In October 2011 she took on the responsibility of the daily coordination of two European projects from the Atlantic Area Program focused on discovering new marine compounds in the Atlantic coast (PHARMATLANTIC 2009-1/117 and ATLANTOX 2008-1/003 in the USC). She was awarded by the Irish Research Council (IRC) with the project DETTOX: Production, extraction, and detection systems for new marine phycotoxins in Europe (Ref. GOIPD/2015/681) as the principal investigator (PI), focused on marine toxin detection. She also improved the specialization of the R&D projects, providing her with the opportunity to develop communication skills in the context of EU projects and establish a network with researchers from international institutions. Today, she and her team at the University of Vigo have been awarded the EU project WHEATBIOME HORIZON-CL6-2022-FARM2FORK-01 (4 years). As a team member, she aims to determine which biotic/abiotic factors affect wheat microbiome composition, including the presence of microorganisms that produce mycotoxins and how the modification of wheat microbiomes can translate into improved crop yield as well as safer wheat. This is an outstanding achievement in today’s competitive environment. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Paz Otero Fuertes for her outstanding achievements.
As the awardee, Dr. Paz Otero Fuertes will receive an honorarium of CHF 2000, an offer to publish one paper free of charge in Toxins after peer review before the end of December 2023, and an electronic certificate.
We would like to thank all of the nominators from various fields of study for their participation and all of the Award Committee Members for their evaluation of the many excellent nominations.
Prof. Dr. Jay Fox
Editor-in-Chief, Toxins
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