María Martínez López, PhD

Junior Group Leader
Champalimaud Foundation

Lisbon, PT

María Martínez López currently holds the position of a junior group leader, funded by la Caixa, in the Immunophysiology group led by Dr. Henrique Veiga-Fernandes at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon, where she is uncovering the dialogue between the dendritic cells and the nervous cells and establish their influence to the host physiology.

Additionally, María's postdoctoral work has been supported by an EMBO Long-Term Fellowship and Marie Curie Fellowship. Moreover, she has received funding from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) to further explore the molecular mechanisms involved in the crosstalk between commensal microorganisms and neuro-immune units. María earned her Ph.D. in the Immunobiology group led by Dr. David Sancho at the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) in Madrid. She obtained her international Ph.D. degree (with distinction) in February 2019 from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Her thesis focused on the dual immune functions of myeloid Syk-coupled C-type lectin receptors in dendritic cells, elucidating their role in generating immune responses against pathogens while maintaining the beneficial relationship with the microbiota.