Emerging Infectious Diseases

Biography

María José Figueras is a researcher at the Department of Basic Medical Sciences of the URV, and a state ambassador for the American Society of Microbiology (ASM, American Society for Microbiology). The network of ambassadors of the ASM aims to promote knowledge of microbiology through state representatives throughout the world. Dr. Figueras now has the mission of strengthening the relationship between the ASM and the scientific community in Spain, as well as collaborating globally with the more than 70 ambassadors of the entity. The ASM is one of the oldest and largest scientific societies in the world. The entity currently has more than 40,000 members, almost half of whom reside outside the United States. Among its objectives is the improvement of health, the environment and economic well-being, through the development and communication of microbiological sciences. María José Figueras graduated (1979) and PhD (1986) in Biology from the University of Barcelona and specialized in electronic microscopy at the University of Groningen (Netherlands). He has developed his professional career in the Biology and Microbiology Unit of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the Rovira i Virgili University, where he has been Professor of Microbiology since 2000. In 2012, he received URV recognition for quality of its research with an impact superior to the world average in the area of Microbiology.

Research Interest

Water related and waterborne infections, Taxonomy and epidemiology of the emerging pathogens Aeromonas and Arcobacter and Taxonomy and epidemiology of the Legionella.