Research

Our investigations are organised into complementary lines, ranging from the prospection of novel viruses in sequencing data to the experimental validation of virus–host interaction mechanisms.

Discovery and characterisation of novel viruses

Prospection of viral genomes in metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data from invertebrates, vertebrates, plants and environmental samples, including assembly, curation, taxonomic classification and formal description of new viral species.

Comparative genomics and viral evolution

Phylogenetic and comparative genomic analyses to reconstruct the evolutionary history of viral families, investigate recombination events and map distribution patterns across hosts.

Virus–host interaction and antiviral immunity

Study of host antiviral responses, with emphasis on RNA interference pathways and other mechanisms controlling viral replication in invertebrates.

Bioinformatics and tool development

Construction of reproducible pipelines and open computational tools for the detection, annotation and visualisation of viral sequences, focused on usability and scalability.

Viruses of agricultural and One Health interest

Characterisation of viruses associated with crops, vectors and animals of economic and sanitary importance, connecting genomic surveillance with the One Health perspective.

Collaborations

We maintain collaborations with national and international research groups. This section will be detailed soon.

Awards and Distinctions

Coming soon.