Amparo Querol

I obtained the Doctorate with honours at the University of Valencia in 1992. Postdoctoral position (1993-1994) at University of California, Irvine, USA. Visiting PhD student at Toulouse University (France) in 1990, and as visiting professor in 2002 at the Technical University of Denmark, and 2014 and 2015 at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. In 1995, I got Research Associate Professor Position at the IATA (CSIC) and in 2006 Full Research Professor. Since 2000, I am also Assistant Professor of Enology at the University of Valencia. I am the head of the ‘Systems Biology in Yeast of Biotechnological Interest’ research group at IATA-CSIC (https://www.iata.csic.es/en/research/systems-biology-yeast-biotechnological-interest; Twitter @SBYBI_IATA). The group is considered as a top-level (A evaluation) by the CSIC evaluation (period 2008-2013; 2012-2016). The group also has been nominated four times as an excellent group in the Valencia region (last evaluation 2019).
The main focus of the research is the study of Saccharomyces yeasts of biotechnological interest. I am interested in understanding the mechanisms involved in the adaptation that has shaped the yeast genome conferring properties of biotechnological interest. Different Omic, as well as evolutionary analysis, are used to understand the mechanisms of adaptation of yeasts of industrial interest to environmental as ethanol tolerance, nutritional changes (temperature, availability of nitrogen, etc.) as well as the aroma synthesis and also in the optimization and design of more sustainable fermentation processes. This research applies to the selection and breeding of new strains of yeasts of interest in industrial fermentations (wine, beer, cider, etc.) by different techniques such as adaptive evolution, hybridization, or the development of GMOs. In the last years, new lines are included: 1) Application of integrative multi-omic data and mathematical modeling into yeast predictive metabolic models (digital twins to develop processes more responsible and production of beverages (wines and beer) according to consumer preferences (aroma and low alcohol)) and 2) Study of molecular mechanisms and yeast infections through multi-omic approaches.
Most research results were transferred to the food industry. In the last 10 years, I developed 3 yeasts commercialized at the international level by Lallemand BIO S.L, one of the most important dry-yeast producers. It is worth remarking; “Velluto Evolution”, a hybrid that produces higher amounts of glycerol, a lower yield of ethanol, and increases the acidity and the wine aroma. Finally, the yeast “Monastrell”, which is a highly ethanol-tolerant yeast very useful with the musts with high sugar contents associated also with climate change. Other indicators are the 25 R&D contracts signed with different national and international wine and brewing companies, such as Miguel Torres, Murviedro, Biopolis, Mahou-San Miguel, Damm, Lallemand, and Sarco-Laffort.
Over the years, I have supervised 12 Ph.D. students and 4 in process and 8 postdocs have been supervised. I have also been very active in Latin-American academic activities and collaborations with the Ph.D. and postdoc students creating a strong yeast community and organize an annual Latin-American yeast meeting that at this moment has been extended to all Latin-American countries.
During these years, I participated in 15 research projects as Principal Investigator. These projects were funded by the Valencian and the Spanish Governments, as well as from the European Union and the Ramón Areces Foundation. Actually, I am involved in two EU projects, MeMBrane (MEmbrane Modulation for BiopRocess enhANcEment, ERA-NET Cofund on Biotechnologies (ERA CoBioTech)), and AROMAGENESIS (Generation of new yeast strains for improved flavors and aromas in beer and wine, Marie Curie, Initial Training Networks, Collaborative Project) and I applied as a coordinator to a Skłodowska-Curie Actions - Doctoral Networks (DN) project (A multi-omics integration approach to harness yeast interactions for optimised food production -YeastINT2Food-). I was Vicedirector (1999-2004) and Director (2011-2015) of IATA; Member of Food Science and Technology Commission of CSIC (2004-2008); Coordinator of Food Science and Technology Commission of ANEP (2009-2012); Member of CSIC President Science Advisor Commission (2009-2013); President of Mycology group of Spanish Microbiology Society (2009-2013). Since 2006, member of the Qualified presumption of safety (QPS) group of the European Food Safety Authority; since 2005, member of the International Commission on Yeasts-IUMS. I am the coordinator of the accreditation of IATA as Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (CEX2021-001189-S).