Microbiology of Man-Made Environments

Our current research interests are on the following main areas:

Food and water safety and quality

Study and characterize the microbial communities (bacterial, viral and fungal) present in food and water, regarding their pathogenic potential, always within the scope of food safety and quality.
Designing state of the art molecular biology and microbiology methods that overcome current technical difficulties in evaluating the presence of microbiological hazards in food and water.

Food and environmental microbiology

Study the ecophysiology of environmental microbial communities (present in matrices such as wastewater, spring and groundwater, and soil), characterizing their populations and analyzing their impact on the environment, food and, ultimately, human health.

Authenticity of food products

Devising molecular and microbiological methods for the assurance of traceability and authenticity