Teresa M. Coque PhD

Teresa Coque, Ph.D. graduated as a Pharmacist (1986) and Clinical Biochemist (1989) and received her Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology (1991) from the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain). After a postdoctoral training at the Internal Medicine Department in the School of Medicine at the University of Texas at Houston in the USA (1993-1995) and the Center for Emerging and Reemerging Pathogens also at the University of Texas at Houston (1996-97), she returned to Spain in 1998. Currently she is Senior Research Scientist at the Microbiology Department of the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital within the Division of Microbial Biology and Infections at the Ramón y Cajal Institute for BioHealth Research (IRYCIS) in Madrid (Spain), leading a research group focused on Population Biology of Human Bacterial Pathogens and their Mobile Genetic Elements. Her special interests and expertise include molecular epidemiology, evolutionary biology, and microbial ecology, with an emphasis in the genetic bases for transmission of antibiotic resistance and the adaptation of commensal and pathogenic Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria to different hosts. Advanced genomics and metagenomics to be applied to the diagnosis of antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens and as predictive markers of infection in the personalized medicine perspective is becoming a priority in the group. TMC has published more than 110 articles in refereed journals and 10 book chapters and regularly participates in international events in the field of antibiotic resistance and plasmid biology. She is a leading investigator of research grants funded by national agencies since 1999 and has participated in different EU projects since 2001 (EVOTAR-F3-2011-282004; R-GNOSIS-282512; TROCAR-2009-223031; BIOHYPO-LSHM-CT-2007-037410; ACE-LSHM-CT-2005-0180705; DRESP-LSHM-CT-2005-518152, COBRA- QLK2-CT-2001-873). The group also participate in Spanish consolidated Networks at national (CIBER-ESP_ISCIII-MINECO, REDEEX_MINECO) and regional level (deResMicrobiana_CAM, PROMPT_CAM) working on different aspects of antibiotic resistance (epidemiology, Public Health, the biology of mobile genetic elements and system biology). TMC has directed seven doctoral theses and coordinates research projects of students associated with the European programs Leonardo da Vinci (2000- 2008) and Erasmus (2007-) and several universities from Europe and South America. She is a member of several international scientific committees and associations and regularly serves as a referee of different journals and evaluator of national and international research funded programs in the field of microbiology and infectious diseases.