Rebeca García Fandiño

Rebeca García Fandiño received her doctorate in Chemistry from Santiago de Compostela University (USC) in 2006, under the supervision of Prof. Juan R. Granja and Luis Castedo, working in the field of organometallic synthesis and the study of reaction mechanisms through computational methods. In 2005 she carried out a predoctoral stay with Prof. Gernot Frenkin, at the Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany), delving into the computational study of organometallic reactions. In 2006 she began her postdoctoral studies at Parc Cientific de Barcelona (IRBB-University of Barcelona), with Prof. Modesto Orozco. There, she worked on the study of biological systems (proteins and lipid membranes) using molecular dynamics simulations. In 2009 she moved to the University of Oxford (UK) to continue her postdoctoral studies with Prof. Mark S. P. Sansom, in the field of computational simulation of membrane biomimetic channels. 

In 2010 she returned to Spain with a "Juan de la Cierva" contract to work at CIQUS associated with Prof. Juan Granja, subsequently obtaining several projects as principal investigator (Emerxentes-Xunta de Galicia and Jóvenes Investigadores-Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación). In 2017 she moved to the University of Porto (Portugal), as principal investigator (FCT-Starting grant) to work in the field of antimicrobial peptides interacting with membrane models, collaborating with Prof. Margarida Bastos in the experimental validation of computational simulations. 

In 2018, she rejoined Santiago de Compostela University with a "Ramón y Cajal" contract associated with the Department of Organic Chemistry and CIQUS. Her research is directed to the study of molecular systems that act at the cell membrane level and how the lipid composition affects these interactions, mainly using computational tools. In this sense, her group is especially interested in understanding the relationship between lipid alterations at the cell membrane level and cancer and infectious diseases. The objective is to use this knowledge in the design of new antimicrobial and anticancer molecules that target the cell membrane, either destroying it or restoring its original (non-pathogenic) composition. 

Rebeca García Fandiño is also the main promoter of MD.USE Innovations SL, a start-up from Santiago de Compostela University, funded in 2015. MD.USE offers computational simulation services and molecular simulation and visualization software development, using state-of-the art technologies, such as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. Currently, MD.USE collaborates with several pharmaceutical companies working in the field of excipients and in the fight against aging.