Mirian
Fernández Alonso

With a degree in Pharmacy, I completed the Specialization Program in Microbiology and Parasitology at the CUN in 1997. I earned my PhD from UNAV in 2000. The study "Expression of Viral Genes in Eukaryotic Vectors for DNA Vaccination by Immersion in the Trout-Rhabdovirus Model" was supervised by Dr. Julio Coll Morales and developed at the Center for Animal Health Research (CISA, INIA) in a Class 3 laboratory. With a predoctoral fellowship from the Basque Government, I learned techniques used in virological and immunological studies and vaccination strategies. As a predoctoral fellow, I collaborated on a reverse genetics project with Dr. Michel Brémont's group at the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research (INRA, Jouy-en-Josas, France). Since January 2001, I have been the Head of the Virology and Molecular Biology Section of the CUN Microbiology Laboratory. During this time, I have assumed various roles and responsibilities: healthcare, teaching, and academic management duties in the clinic and at the University, as well as research. My research areas have shifted from biofilm-producing gram-positive bacteria through molecular biology to viral infections and resistance mechanisms. I began collaborating on projects studying biofilms in staphylococci and directed my first funded project based on monitoring cytomegalovirus infection in transplant patients using PCR compared with classic antigenemia. I co-supervised a doctoral thesis on CMV infection and treatment in transplant patients. I have continued collaborating on projects that use molecular biology techniques to detect resistance mechanisms in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (I co-supervised a doctoral thesis defended in February 2012) and to control and detect Legionella pneumophila infection. Since 2003, the Navarra Influenza Surveillance Network has served as a reference laboratory, coordinated by the Navarra Institute of Public Health. My research area has focused primarily on influenza virus infection. During these years, I have had the opportunity to learn how to work with influenza and other respiratory viruses. I have participated in meetings of the National Influenza Surveillance Network, coordinated with the National Reference Laboratory and alongside other experts in the field. We have received national and European funding for studies on vaccination efficacy and the prevention of influenza-associated mortality. In 2012, I moved to the United Kingdom to develop a Health Protection Agency (HPA, now Protection Health England, PHE) research project in collaboration with Imperial College London. Funded by an HPA Research and Development program, I also received a Fellowship from the Carlos III Health Institute to collaborate on the project "Early Detection of Influenza Antiviral Resistance and Identification of Compensatory Mutations with an Impact on Viral Fitness and Transmissibility." During this stay, I was able to expand my knowledge of pathogenicity, antigenicity, immunogenicity, and antiviral resistance. Since 2013, I have been working in the Viology and Molecular Biology Section (2013–2021) and the Mycology and Parasitology Section (2021–present) of the Microbiology Service at the University of Navarra Clinic.