Narcisa Martínez Quiles

Narcisa Martínez Quiles (NMQ) is a Professor (Titular) at Complutense University. Graduated in Biology, with a specialty in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Autónoma University (1989). She ranked 4 / 628 in a national examination that allows her to join the National Biologist Residency Program at the “12 de Octubre” Hospital, in the Immunology Division (1992-5). After its successful completion, she obtained the national certification by the Health Ministry as an Immunologist Specialist that grants access to Hospitals. During this period, she participated in research and published several studies, including a Journal of Immunology as the first author, at that moment, a prominent journal in the field of Immunology. She joined the Medical Immunology doctorate program at the UCM and obtained the doctoral degree in 1997.
Although she was offered to continue in the division, at this point she decided to join the laboratory of Dr. Raif S. Geha, (Immunology Division, Children´s Hospital, Harvard Medical School) where she contributed to the study of the “Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome”. She stayed there for 5 years as a postdoctoral fellow and two more years as an instructor/Research Associate (Dept. of Medicine, Harvard Medical School). This period shaped her scientifically and allow her to publish the research in top journals, such as Nature Cell Biology (first author). She received several awards, including the Paul A. Dobuler Prize for Excellence in Immunodeficiency Research. As a postdoctoral fellow, she was in charge of setting-up new cytoskeletal study techniques including cell microinjection.
In 2004, she decided to return to Spain and applied to the very competitive public national program “Ramon y Cajal” where she ranked fifth in the Biomedicine area. In September of 2004, she joined the Dpt. of Microbiology, at the Pharmacy School, with the aim of refining its knowledge in host-pathogen interaction mechanisms in relation to the cytoskeleton. After the completion of this 5 year period, she obtained a positive I3 evaluation from the Ministry of Science that facilitated obtaining a contract as a Professor (Profesor Contratado Doctor) in September of 2009. In October of 2012, the researcher moves to the Dept. of Immunology, at the UCM Medical School. Although she obtained the certification as a civil servant professor (PTU) in 2011, due to the economic crisis, is not until 2016 that she was able to apply for that position. Therefore, she is PTU from November of 2016 (equivalent to tenure associate professor).
NMQ has established independent lines of research centered on the study of the regulation of the cytoskeleton during bacterial and cell motility. She has acquired international recognition in the field, as reflected by international collaborations. She has joint-in modest editorial board memberships and other groups in European Commission calls, including Infect-ERA, that will be followed up in the future. The group has stand-out with relevant publications in Plos Pathogens and Cell host and Microbe. Though the extreme difficulties endured in Science Funding in Spain during the last 5 years, she has managed to maintain collaborations and as a consequence of her persistence and hard work, sustained a PI position. Currently, she is a member of the Immunobiology Complutense Research group.