Dr. Maria del Carmen Mañas Torres

Dr. Mari Carmen Mañas Torres graduated in Pharmacy from the University of Granada in 2014. In 2015 she completed an expert in Biotechnology applied to health at the UNED, and in 2017 she entered the world of research thanks to a contract co-funded by the European Social Fund within the Department of Organic Chemistry at the University of Granada. In 2018 she started her Ph.D. in this same department under the supervision of Prof. Luis Álvarez de Cienfuegos and Prof. Modesto Torcuato López López, with a grant (FPI) funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation. Her research is focused on the development of peptide supramolecular hydrogels and the study of their potential biotechnological applications. She designed and synthesized novel functional hybrid hydrogels from self-assembled building blocks based on amino acids and peptides. Furthermore, she studied applications in regenerative medicine, bone mineralization, and use of supramolecular peptide hydrogels for protein crystal growth. In addition, she investigated the impact of self-assembly and co-assembly on the formation of supramolecular hydrogels. Finally, she obtained her Ph.D. in Chemistry in June 2022 from the University of Granada. She is currently contracted by the department of Organic Chemistry at the University of Granada to continue her research work. Her work has been multidisciplinary, collaborating with different research centers and groups. In January 2023 she will join the Responsive Polymer Therapeutics Group as a postdoctoral researcher under the supervision of Prof. Marcelo Calderón and Dr. Ana Beloqui. Her research work will focus on the development of tailored nanogels for therapy and catalysis.