Pathophysiology of the lysosome

Currently I am an independent researcher awarded an EMERGIA fellresearch grant (Junta de Andalucia) started on September 2023, that allows me to continue with my own line of research on unravelling the physiopathological role of the non-canonical, extralysosomal functions of lysosomal proteases and its connection with pro-inflammatory conditions. Previously, I was also awarded a Ramon y Cajal Fellow (call 2021).

My scientific career has been focused in the study of the lysosomal compartment and its connection with physiopathology, both through their well-characterised canonical, intralysosomal activities, but also through their non-canonical, extralysosomal functions. During my scientific career I have worked in several scientific projects both at national and international level (European Research Council, Welcome Trust, Medical Research Council, Spanish Ministry of Science), published a number of scientific articles in high-impact factor journals (i.e., Science Immunology, Immunity, Blood, Nature Communications, Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, Cell Reports, eLIFE, among others). I have presented my work at more than 20 national and international conferences, been invited to several talks at international conferences and awarded several fellowships.

During my Postdoctoral work at the University of Dundee (UoD, UK), I led a project about the characterisation of a novel STAT3-mediated pathway of lysosomal homeostasis in which I designed and executed all the experiments, leading to a first and corresponding author paper in Nature Communications in 2018. This allowed me to secure a position as Senior Research Associate (SRA) at the UoD in which I developed my own, independent line of research.

Importantly, my stay in the United Kingdom has allowed me to stablish collaborations with some of the world leading experts in the fields of Immunology (Prof. Colin Watts (UK); Prof. Doreen Cantrell (UK), Dr Suman Mitra (FR)), Lysosomal Biology (Prof. Thomas Reinheckel (DE); Prof. Valeria Poli (IT)), Bioinformatics (Prof. Angus Lamond (UK); Dr Majid Kazemian (USA)) and Cytokine Biology (Dr Ignacio Moraga (UK)). This excellent network of collaborators provides excellent support in the development of my scientific career, allowing me to explore lysosomal biology from different scientific perspectives.

Team members:

Jonathan Martinez Fabregas (Project leader)
Ryan Conesa Bakkali (PhD Student)
Previous positions:

• Ramon y Cajal Fellow, CABIMER, Seville, Spain (January 2023 – August 2023)
• MSCA fellow at Prof. Irene Diaz-Moreno’s lab, cicCartuja, Seville, Spain (2021-2022)
• Senior Research Associate at Dr. Ignacio Moraga’s lab, Life Sciences Institute, University of Dundee, UK (2017-2021)
• Postdoctoral research associate at Colin Watts’ lab, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, UK (2012-2017)
• PhD student at Miguel A De la Rosa’s lab, cicCartuja, Seville, Spain (2007-2011)