Dr. José F. Marcos, Scientific Researcher of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), has been appointed as the new Director of the Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (IATA-CSIC), developing his scientific work in the Department of Food Biotechnology. He will have the collaboration as Deputy Director of Dr. Amparo López, Senior Scientist of the CSIC, who belongs to the Department of Food Preservation and Safety of IATA. The new director of IATA succeeds Dr. Cristina Molina Rosell.
Dr. José F. Marcos received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Valencia (1991) working on molecular plant virology and the characterization of plant viroids, under advice of Prof. R. Flores (IBMCP, Valencia). He then moved as a postdoctoral fellow for three years to the group of Prof. R. N. Beachy at TSRI (La Jolla, CA, USA), wherein he worked on plant genetic transformation for the development of virus-resistant plants. During this period, he began his interest in antimicrobial peptides. Back to Spain in 1995, he first joined the group of Prof. V. Pallás (then at the CEBAS, Murcia). He moved to IATA and obtained a position as Senior Scientist of the CSIC in 2000, with a scientific project on the characterization of pathogenic fungus-fruit interactions and the development of alternatives for the control of fruit postharvest decay with a focus on the use of antimicrobial peptides. José Marcos has developed his scientific career in the areas of molecular phytopathology, food microbiology and plant biotechnology; with the most recent emphasis on the characterization of bioactive peptides and proteins and the biotechnology of filamentous fungi and their agri-food applications.
Dr. Marcos is committed to continue working on the consolidation of IATA as a reference center in Food Science. The new team will continue working to increase the excellence and visibility of IATA's research in Food Science and its transfer to society.