Hermes Alfonso Benitez Paez
Food Biotechnology
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AAY-7143-2020
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Biography
Dr Alfonso Benítez-Páez has a BSc degree in Biology, a MSc degree in Biochemistry, and a Diploma in Biotechnology. He received his PhD degree in Molecular Biology in June 2010 (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). During his PhD training, Dr Benítez-Páez (Armengod's lab, CIPF) acquired notable expertise in bacterial genomics, molecular biology, and recombinant protein analyses fundamental to describe for the first time functions of the TrmL and RlmN RNA E. coli orphan methylases. His postdoctoral training positions were focused on human microbiome studies, and he studied human microbiota and its influence on human health. Dr Benítez-Páez contributed to understanding human caries and periodontal disease etiology from the microbial community point of view and helped to characterize potential probiotic strains for oral health (Mira's lab, FISABIO). Thus, Dr Benítez-Páez carried out advanced research unveiling the molecular signals governing the assembly of the human dental biofilm via the first in vivo metatranscriptomic analysis described using massive and parallel sequencing. Later, he enrolled in Prof Yolanda Sanz's laboratory (IATA-CSIC, Paterna). After almost five years working in the well-recognized European project MyNewGut, Dr Benítez-Páez has focused on the study of the intestinal microbiota to unveil the diet-host-microbe interactions. The involvement in such an international multidisciplinary consortium permitted him to develop his own lines of investigation, constituting his current research aims. He completed short- and mid-term fellowships in excellence centres such as the University of Bolonia (Prof Patrizia Brigidi's group, Bolonia, Italia) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory - EMBL (Dr Georg Zeller's group, Heidelberg, Germany). Dr Benítez-Páez has envisioned and led outstanding research projects such as developing new molecular protocols for the characterization of complex microbial communities based on cutting-edge sequencing platforms and implementing multi-omics analysis in random clinical trials to decipher diet-host-microbiota interactions in obesity and metabolic impairment. He has envisioned and developed a novel method based on nanopore technology to study complex microbial communities at species and strain levels using the “rrn” multilocus approach. After almost ten years of postdoctoral experience and an excellent publication track record, Dr Benítez-Páez was granted a "Miguel Servet" competitive contract (ISCIII) on the 2019 call to work as Junior Group Leader R3 at the CIPF for five years. From 2020 to 2023, he led the CIPF Host-Microbe Interactions in Metabolic Health laboratory, performing advanced investigations in the human gut microbiome. Dr Benítez-Páez has already demonstrated his leadership by (co)-coordinating different projects in recent years in close collaboration with national and international research groups. Moreover, his scientific career is already recognized overseas because of the regular invitation to review manuscripts in top-ranked journals specialized in nutrition, gastroenterology and microbiome research (e.g. Microbiome, Gut, Clinical Nutrition, Gut Microbes) and because of his membership as Associate Editor of Frontiers in Microbiology and Frontiers in Nutrition journals. Dr Benítez has also been committed to training and formation of young investigators to complete their Master's (8 trainees supervised) or PhD thesis (3 trainees supervised), thus permitting the training of future scientists. Dr Benítez-Páez possesses the I3/R3 certificate (I3/2021/0034) by the Spanish Ministry of Universities and the AEI (Agencia Estatal de Investigación) as proof of his leadership, independence, internationalization, and scientific excellence. Furthermore, Dr Benítez-Páez holds the following credentials: Assistant Professor Doctor (PAD), Contracted Professor Doctor (PCD), and Private University Professor (PUP) by ANECA agency (November 2020), and two Research Six-year period certifications (2007-2012 and 2013-2018) by AVAP and ANECA/CNEAI agencies. Finally, Dr Benítez-Páez was appointed as CSIC Tenured Scientist in November 2022, and now he is part of the permanent staff at the IATA-CSIC Severo-Ochoa Excellence Center.
Team
Paula Hernández CalderónProjects
PID2023-150523NB-I00
Functional mimicry of the human dipeptidyl peptidase-4 activity by the gut microbes and dietary strategies for its inhibition - MIMICROBES
RED2022-134934T
Red Temática de Microbiota Aplicada a la Salud Humana – MidAS.
CP19/00132
Identification of genetic and metabolic components of the gut microbiota and dietary strategies for preventing non-communicable diseases.
POM-FAME (U. Copenhague)
Personalized Obesity Management - Matching fiber and microbial enterotype.
Publications
Selection on the last 10 years peer-reviewed publications:
Mincheva G, Felipo V, Moreno-Manzano V, Benítez-Páez A, Llansola M. Extracellular vesicles from mesenchymal stem cells alter gut microbiota and improve neuroinflammation and motor impairment in rats with mild liver damage. Neurotherapeutics. 2024 Sep 5:e00445. doi: 10.1016/j.neurot.2024.e00445. PMID: 39242290.
Olivares M, Hernández-Calderón P, Cárdenas-Brito S, Liébana-García R, Sanz Y, Benítez-Páez A. Gut microbiota DPP4-like enzymes are increased in type-2 diabetes and contribute to incretin inactivation. Genome Biol. 2024 Jul 3;25(1):174. doi: 10.1186/s13059-024-03325-4. PMID: 38961511; PMCID: PMC11221189.
Carpio LE, Olivares M, Benítez-Paez A, Serrano-Candelas E, Barigye SJ, Sanz Y, Gozalbes R. Comparative Binding Study of Gliptins to Bacterial DPP4-like Enzymes for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Int J Mol Sci. 2024 May 25;25(11):5744. doi: 10.3390/ijms25115744. PMID: 38891933; PMCID: PMC11171585.
Romaní-Pérez M, López-Almela I, Bullich-Vilarrubias C, Evtoski Z, Benítez-Páez A, Sanz Y. Bacteroides uniformis CECT 7771 requires adaptive immunity to improve glucose tolerance but not to prevent body weight gain in diet-induced obese mice. Microbiome. 2024 Jun 6;12(1):103. doi: 10.1186/s40168-024-01810-3. PMID: 38845049; PMCID: PMC11155119.
Caparrós E, Cenit MC, Muriel J, Benítez-Páez A, Moreno MV, González-Delgado P, Rubio G, Sanz Y, Fernández J. Intestinal microbiota is modified in pediatric food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome. J Allergy Clin Immunol Glob. 2022 Sep 6;1(4):217-224. doi: 10.1016/j.jacig.2022.07.005. PMID: 37779539; PMCID: PMC10510020.
Benítez-Páez A. Editorial: Contribution of the maternal microbiome to offspring health. Front Nutr. 2023 Jun 19;10:1229447. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1229447. PMID: 37404860; PMCID: PMC10316016.
Hernández-Calderón P, Wiedemann L, Benítez-Páez A. The microbiota composition drives personalized nutrition: Gut microbes as predictive biomarkers for the success of weight loss diets. Front Nutr. 2022 Sep 23;9:1006747. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.1006747. PMID: 36211501; PMCID: PMC9537590.
Benítez-Páez A, Hartstra AV, Nieuwdorp M, Sanz Y. Species- and strain-level assessment using <i>rrn</i> long-amplicons suggests donor's influence on gut microbial transference via fecal transplants in metabolic syndrome subjects. Gut Microbes. 2022 Jan-Dec;14(1):2078621. doi: 10.1080/19490976.2022.2078621. PMID: 35604764; PMCID: PMC9132484.
Sánchez-Sánchez P, Santonja FJ, Benítez-Páez A. Assessment of human microbiota stability across longitudinal samples using iteratively growing-partitioned clustering. Brief Bioinform. 2022 Mar 10;23(2):bbac055. doi: 10.1093/bib/bbac055. PMID: 35226073.
Hillestad EMR, van der Meeren A, Nagaraja BH, Bjørsvik BR, Haleem N, Benitez-Paez A, Sanz Y, Hausken T, Lied GA, Lundervold A, Berentsen B. Gut bless you: The microbiota-gut-brain axis in irritable bowel syndrome. World J Gastroenterol. 2022 Jan 28;28(4):412-431. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i4.412. PMID: 35125827; PMCID: PMC8790555.
Turroni S, Benítez-Páez A. Editorial: Remodeling Composition and Function of Microbiome by Dietary Strategies - Functional Foods Perspective. Front Nutr. 2021 Nov 30;8:811102. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.811102. PMID: 34917644; PMCID: PMC8669149.
Agustí A, Campillo I, Balzano T, Benítez-Páez A, López-Almela I, Romaní-Pérez M, Forteza J, Felipo V, Avena NM, Sanz Y. Bacteroides uniformis CECT 7771 Modulates the Brain Reward Response to Reduce Binge Eating and Anxiety-Like Behavior in Rat. Mol Neurobiol. 2021 Oct;58(10):4959-4979. doi: 10.1007/s12035-021-02462-2. Epub 2021 Jul 6. PMID: 34228269; PMCID: PMC8497301.
Romaní-Pérez M, López-Almela I, Bullich-Vilarrubias C, Rueda-Ruzafa L, Gómez Del Pulgar EM, Benítez-Páez A, Liebisch G, Lamas JA, Sanz Y. Holdemanella biformis improves glucose tolerance and regulates GLP-1 signaling in obese mice. FASEB J. 2021 Jul;35(7):e21734. doi: 10.1096/fj.202100126R. PMID: 34143451.
Fabersani E, Portune K, Campillo I, López-Almela I, la Paz SM, Romaní-Pérez M, Benítez-Páez A, Sanz Y. Bacteroides uniformis CECT 7771 alleviates inflammation within the gut-adipose tissue axis involving TLR5 signaling in obese mice. Sci Rep. 2021 Jun 3;11(1):11788. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-90888-y. PMID: 34083551; PMCID: PMC8175583.
Benítez-Páez A, Hess AL, Krautbauer S, Liebisch G, Christensen L, Hjorth MF, Larsen TM, Sanz Y; MyNewGut consortium. Sex, Food, and the Gut Microbiota: Disparate Response to Caloric Restriction Diet with Fiber Supplementation in Women and Men. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2021 Apr;65(8):e2000996. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.202000996. Epub 2021 Mar 9. PMID: 33629506.
López-Almela I, Romaní-Pérez M, Bullich-Vilarrubias C, Benítez-Páez A, Gómez Del Pulgar EM, Francés R, Liebisch G, Sanz Y. Bacteroides uniformis combined with fiber amplifies metabolic and immune benefits in obese mice. Gut Microbes. 2021 Jan-Dec;13(1):1-20. doi: 10.1080/19490976.2020.1865706. PMID: 33499721; PMCID: PMC8018257.
Christensen L, Sørensen CV, Wøhlk FU, Kjølbæk L, Astrup A, Sanz Y, Hjorth MF, Benítez-Páez A. Microbial enterotypes beyond genus level: Bacteroides species as a predictive biomarker for weight change upon controlled intervention with arabinoxylan oligosaccharides in overweight subjects. Gut Microbes. 2020 Nov 9;12(1):1847627. doi: 10.1080/19490976.2020.1847627. Epub 2020 Dec 15. PMID: 33319645; PMCID: PMC7781564.
Berentsen B, Nagaraja BH, Teige EP, Lied GA, Lundervold AJ, Lundervold K, Steinsvik EK, Hillestad ER, Valeur J, Brønstad I, Gilja OH, Osnes B, Hatlebakk JG, Haász J, Labus J, Gupta A, Mayer EA, Benitez-Páez A, Sanz Y, Lundervold A, Hausken T. Study protocol of the Bergen brain-gut-microbiota-axis study: A prospective case-report characterization and dietary intervention study to evaluate the effects of microbiota alterations on cognition and anatomical and functional brain connectivity in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Medicine (Baltimore). 2020 Sep 11;99(37):e21950. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000021950. PMID: 32925728; PMCID: PMC7489588.
Hartstra AV, Schüppel V, Imangaliyev S, Schrantee A, Prodan A, Collard D, Levin E, Dallinga-Thie G, Ackermans MT, Winkelmeijer M, Havik SR, Metwaly A, Lagkouvardos I, Nier A, Bergheim I, Heikenwalder M, Dunkel A, Nederveen AJ, Liebisch G, Mancano G, Claus SP, Benítez-Páez A, la Fleur SE, Bergman JJ, Gerdes V, Sanz Y, Booij J, Kemper E, Groen AK, Serlie MJ, Haller D, Nieuwdorp M. Infusion of donor feces affects the gut-brain axis in humans with metabolic syndrome. Mol Metab. 2020 Dec;42:101076. doi: 10.1016/j.molmet.2020.101076. Epub 2020 Sep 8. PMID: 32916306; PMCID: PMC7536740.
Benítez-Páez A, Olivares M, Szajewska H, Pieścik-Lech M, Polanco I, Castillejo G, Nuñez M, Ribes-Koninckx C, Korponay-Szabó IR, Koletzko S, Meijer CR, Mearin ML, Sanz Y. Breast-Milk Microbiota Linked to Celiac Disease Development in Children: A Pilot Study From the PreventCD Cohort. Front Microbiol. 2020 Jun 23;11:1335. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01335. PMID: 32655529; PMCID: PMC7324710.
Benítez-Páez A, Gómez Del Pugar EM, López-Almela I, Moya-Pérez Á, Codoñer-Franch P, Sanz Y. Depletion of <i>Blautia</i> Species in the Microbiota of Obese Children Relates to Intestinal Inflammation and Metabolic Phenotype Worsening. mSystems. 2020 Mar 24;5(2):e00857-19. doi: 10.1128/mSystems.00857-19. PMID: 32209719; PMCID: PMC7093825.
Gómez Del Pulgar EM, Benítez-Páez A, Sanz Y. Safety Assessment of Bacteroides uniformis CECT 7771, a Symbiont of the Gut Microbiota in Infants. Nutrients. 2020 Feb 20;12(2):551. doi: 10.3390/ nu12020551. PMID: 32093252; PMCID: PMC7071458.
Agudelo-Ochoa GM, Valdés-Duque BE, Giraldo-Giraldo NA, Jaillier-Ramírez AM, Giraldo-Villa A, Acevedo-Castaño I, Yepes-Molina MA, Barbosa-Barbosa J, Benítez-Paéz A. Gut microbiota profiles in critically ill patients, potential biomarkers and risk variables for sepsis. Gut Microbes. 2020 Nov 9;12(1):1707610. doi: 10.1080/19490976.2019.1707610. Epub 2020 Jan 10. PMID: 31924126; PMCID: PMC7524144.
Hess AL, Benítez-Páez A, Blædel T, Larsen LH, Iglesias JR, Madera C, Sanz Y, Larsen TM; MyNewGut Consortium. The effect of inulin and resistant maltodextrin on weight loss during energy restriction: a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blinded intervention. Eur J Nutr. 2020 Sep;59(6):2507-2524. doi: 10.1007/s00394-019-02099-x. Epub 2019 Oct 11. PMID: 31605197.
López-Goñi I, Giner-Lamia J, Álvarez-Ordoñez A, Benitez-Páez A, Claessen D, Cortesao M, de Toro M, García-Ruano D, Granato ET, Kovács ÁT, Romalde JL, Sana TG, Sánchez-Angulo M, Sangari FJ, Smits WK, Sturm T, Thomassin JL, Valdehuesa KNG, Zapotoczna M. #EUROmicroMOOC: using Twitter to share trends in Microbiology worldwide. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2019 Jun 1;366(11):fnz141. doi: 10.1093/femsle/ fnz141. PMID: 31253991.
Benítez-Páez A, Kjølbæk L, Gómez Del Pulgar EM, Brahe LK, Astrup A, Matysik S, Schött HF, Krautbauer S, Liebisch G, Boberska J, Claus S, Rampelli S, Brigidi P, Larsen LH, Sanz Y. A Multi-omics Approach to Unraveling the Microbiome-Mediated Effects of Arabinoxylan Oligosaccharides in Overweight Humans. mSystems. 2019 May 28;4(4):e00209-19. doi: 10.1128/mSystems.00209-19. PMID: 31138673; PMCID: PMC6538848.
Delzenne NM, Olivares M, Neyrinck AM, Beaumont M, Kjølbæk L, Larsen TM, Benítez-Páez A, Romaní-Pérez M, Garcia-Campayo V, Bosscher D, Sanz Y, van der Kamp JW. Nutritional interest of dietary fiber and prebiotics in obesity: Lessons from the MyNewGut consortium. Clin Nutr. 2020 Feb;39(2):414-424. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2019.03.002. Epub 2019 Mar 9. PMID: 30904186.
Kjølbæk L, Benítez-Páez A, Gómez Del Pulgar EM, Brahe LK, Liebisch G, Matysik S, Rampelli S, Vermeiren J, Brigidi P, Larsen LH, Astrup A, Sanz Y. Arabinoxylan oligosaccharides and polyunsaturated fatty acid effects on gut microbiota and metabolic markers in overweight individuals with signs of metabolic syndrome: A randomized cross-over trial. Clin Nutr. 2020 Jan;39(1):67-79. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2019.01.012. Epub 2019 Feb 19. PMID: 30827722.
Wolters M, Ahrens J, Romaní-Pérez M, Watkins C, Sanz Y, Benítez-Páez A, Stanton C, Günther K. Dietary fat, the gut microbiota, and metabolic health - A systematic review conducted within the MyNewGut project. Clin Nutr. 2019 Dec;38(6):2504-2520. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2018.12.024. Epub 2018 Dec 24. PMID: 30655101.
Rampelli S, Guenther K, Turroni S, Wolters M, Veidebaum T, Kourides Y, Molnár D, Lissner L, Benitez-Paez A, Sanz Y, Fraterman A, Michels N, Brigidi P, Candela M, Ahrens W. Pre-obese children's dysbiotic gut microbiome and unhealthy diets may predict the development of obesity. Commun Biol. 2018 Dec 7;1:222. doi: 10.1038/s42003-018-0221-5. PMID: 30534614; PMCID: PMC6286349.
Sanchis-Chordà J, Del Pulgar EMG, Carrasco-Luna J, Benítez-Páez A, Sanz Y, Codoñer-Franch P. Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum CECT 7765 supplementation improves inflammatory status in insulin-resistant obese children. Eur J Nutr. 2019 Oct;58(7):2789-2800. doi: 10.1007/s00394-018-1828-5. Epub 2018 Sep 24. PMID: 30251018.
Moukadiri I, Villarroya M, Benítez-Páez A, Armengod ME. Bacillus subtilis exhibits MnmC-like tRNA modification activities. RNA Biol. 2018;15(9):1167-1173. doi: 10.1080/15476286.2018.1517012. Epub 2018 Sep 24. PMID: 30249152; PMCID: PMC6284559.
Olivares M, Schüppel V, Hassan AM, Beaumont M, Neyrinck AM, Bindels LB, Benítez-Páez A, Sanz Y, Haller D, Holzer P, Delzenne NM. The Potential Role of the Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4-Like Activity From the Gut Microbiota on the Host Health. Front Microbiol. 2018 Aug 22;9:1900. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01900. PMID: 30186247; PMCID: PMC6113382.
Sanz Y, Romaní-Perez M, Benítez-Páez A, Portune KJ, Brigidi P, Rampelli S, Dinan T, Stanton C, Delzenne N, Blachier F, Neyrinck AM, Beaumont M, Olivares M, Holzer P, Günther K, Wolters M, Ahrens W, Claus SP, Campoy C, Murphy R, Sadler C, Fernández L, Kamp JV. Towards microbiome-informed dietary recommendations for promoting metabolic and mental health: Opinion papers of the MyNewGut project. Clin Nutr. 2018 Dec;37(6 Pt A):2191-2197. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2018.07.007. Epub 2018 Jul 9. PMID: 30033172.
Olivares M, Benítez-Páez A, de Palma G, Capilla A, Nova E, Castillejo G, Varea V, Marcos A, Garrote JA, Polanco I, Donat E, Ribes-Koninckx C, Calvo C, Ortigosa L, Palau F, Sanz Y. Increased prevalence of pathogenic bacteria in the gut microbiota of infants at risk of developing celiac disease: The PROFICEL study. Gut Microbes. 2018 Nov 2;9(6):551-558. doi: 10.1080/19490976.2018.1451276. Epub 2018 May 9. PMID: 29672211; PMCID: PMC6287676.
Olivares M, Walker AW, Capilla A, Benítez-Páez A, Palau F, Parkhill J, Castillejo G, Sanz Y. Gut microbiota trajectory in early life may predict development of celiac disease. Microbiome. 2018 Feb 20;6(1):36. doi: 10.1186/s40168-018-0415-6. PMID: 29458413; PMCID: PMC5819212.
Benítez-Páez A, Gómez Del Pulgar EM, Sanz Y. The Glycolytic Versatility of Bacteroides uniformis CECT 7771 and Its Genome Response to Oligo and Polysaccharides. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2017 Aug 25;7:383. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2017.00383. PMID: 28971068; PMCID: PMC5609589.
Benítez-Páez A, Sanz Y. Multi-locus and long amplicon sequencing approach to study microbial diversity at species level using the MinION™ portable nanopore sequencer. Gigascience. 2017 Jul 1;6(7):1-12. doi: 10.1093/gigascience/gix043. PMID: 28605506; PMCID: PMC5534310.
Portune KJ, Benítez-Páez A, Del Pulgar EM, Cerrudo V, Sanz Y. Gut microbiota, diet, and obesity-related disorders-The good, the bad, and the future challenges. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2017 Jan;61(1). doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201600252. Epub 2016 Sep 20. PMID: 27287778.
Benítez-Páez A, Moreno FJ, Sanz ML, Sanz Y. Genome Structure of the Symbiont Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum CECT 7765 and Gene Expression Profiling in Response to Lactulose-Derived Oligosaccharides. Front Microbiol. 2016 Apr 29;7:624. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00624. PMID: 27199952; PMCID: PMC4850155.
Benítez-Páez A, Portune KJ, Sanz Y. Species-level resolution of 16S rRNA gene amplicons sequenced through the MinION™ portable nanopore sequencer. Gigascience. 2016 Jan 28;5:4. doi: 10.1186/ s13742-016-0111-z. PMID: 26823973; PMCID: PMC4730766.
Mosquera-Rendón J, Rada-Bravo AM, Cárdenas-Brito S, Corredor M, Restrepo-Pineda E, Benítez-Páez A. Pangenome-wide and molecular evolution analyses of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa species. BMC Genomics. 2016 Jan 12;17:45. doi: 10.1186/s12864-016-2364-4. PMID: 26754847; PMCID: PMC4710005.
Mosquera-Rendón J, Cárdenas-Brito S, Pineda JD, Corredor M, Benítez-Páez A. Evolutionary and sequence-based relationships in bacterial AdoMet-dependent non-coding RNA methyltransferases. BMC Res Notes. 2014 Jul 10;7:440. doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-440. PMID: 25012753; PMCID: PMC4119055.
Benítez-Páez A, Belda-Ferre P, Simón-Soro A, Mira A. Microbiota diversity and gene expression dynamics in human oral biofilms. BMC Genomics. 2014 Apr 27;15:311. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-311. PMID: 24767457; PMCID: PMC4234424.
Patents
- Request number:PCT1641.1407Title:Cepa Bifidobacterium longum sub. infantis strain y sus usos.Date of the request:Wednesday, 4 December, 2019
- Request number:PCT/ES2019/070821Title:Uso de la cepa Phascolarctobacterium faecium para la prevención y tratamiento de la obesidad y sus comorbilidades.Date of the request:Monday, 2 December, 2019
- Request number:PCT/ES2019/070882Title:Bacteria Hodemanella sp. y sus usos.Date of the request:Wednesday, 26 December, 2018