Paloma Juarez

She has extensive experience in biotechnology and genetic engineering, supported by a strong academic background in biological sciences and plant molecular and cellular biotechnology. During her academic and postdoctoral career at leading European institutions, she developed advanced expertise in the production of high-value molecules using plant-based platforms, the design and production of antibodies for immunotherapy and dietary supplements, plant genetic engineering, and gene editing.

She has managed complex research projects, from experimental design to implementation and analysis of results, demonstrating strong capabilities in experimental planning, process optimisation and technology transfer. In her professional career at AINIA, she has contributed to the creation and consolidation of the molecular biology and genetic engineering laboratory, promoting this research line and leading innovation projects, while strengthening multidisciplinary collaboration and the connection between scientific research and industrial applications.

She has a solid background in biological sciences and biotechnology, beginning with a degree in Biological Sciences from the Universitat de València and a Master’s degree in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biotechnology. She completed her PhD in Biotechnology with an FPU fellowship, focusing on the production of antibodies in plant-based platforms for passive oral immunotherapy.

She further strengthened her academic profile through international postdoctoral research. At VIB (Belgium), she specialised in plant genetic engineering and the development of oral vaccines through an FWO Postdoctoral Fellowship. She later continued her research with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship, focusing on antibody design and their production in plants as dietary supplements.

In addition, she has completed specialised training in intellectual property and technology transfer, including the courses Introduction to Intellectual Property Rights (European Patent Office), Technology Transfer (Ghent University) and IP in Business and Academia (European Patent Office), strengthening her competencies in innovation, technology management and research valorisation.

• FPU Fellowship (University Teacher Training Programme, Ministry of Education, Spain) during the PhD in Biotechnology.
• FWO Postdoctoral Fellowship (Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen / Research Foundation – Flanders) at VIB – Plant Systems Biology, Belgium.
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship for postdoctoral research in antibody design and plant-based production.

• HORIZON EUROPE AGRO4AGRI (AINIA, 2024–2028) – European project in agricultural biotechnology, with funding of €1,085,020.
• Pheroplus: Sustainable bioproduction of insect pheromones (AINIA, 2021–2024) – Development of pheromones and precursors, involving a team of 8 researchers, €135,119.86.
• Nanobac: Production of antibodies in yeasts against bacteria in the livestock sector (AINIA, 2021–2023) – €304,118.66.
• Pharma-Factory (Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2017–2021) – European project on the production of therapeutic proteins in plants, involving 14 researchers and €8,286,008.63.
• Development of VHH-IgA based simple secretory IgA in planta for passive mucosal immunisation (VIB, Belgium, 2014–2017) – Research on antibodies for passive immunisation.
• IgA-based oral therapy for protection of piglets against enterotoxigenic E. coli (VIB, Belgium, 2015–2017) – Antibody-based oral therapies for animal protection.
• Engineering tomatoes for health: molecular farming in Solanaceae (Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2011–2013) – Production of molecular building blocks for intragenesis and plant biofactories, €242,000.
• The tomato fruit as a biofactory for immunotherapeutic proteins (Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2009–2010) – Production of antibodies against Rotavirus, €105,000.
• Tecnomifood (AINIA) – Technological innovation project in the food sector.

• Evaluating single-domain antibodies as carriers for targeted vaccine delivery to the small intestinal epithelium, Journal of Controlled Release, 2020.
• A two-amino acid mutation in murine IgA enables downstream processing and purification on staphylococcal superantigen-like protein 7, Journal of Biotechnology, 2019. (corresponding author)
• Biomanufacturing of protective antibodies and other therapeutics in edible plant tissues for oral applications, Plant Biotechnology Journal, 2016. (corresponding author)
• Glyco-engineering to produce recombinant IgA1 with defined N- and O-glycans in plants, Frontiers in Plant Science, 2016.
• Plant expression systems for early stage discovery and development of lead therapeutic antibodies, Human Antibodies, 2015.
• Evaluation of unintended effects in tomatoes expressing human IgA against Rotavirus, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2014.
• Combinatorial analysis of secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) expression in plants, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2013.
• Neutralizing antibodies against rotavirus produced in transgenically labelled purple tomatoes, Plant Biotechnology Journal, 2012.
• Recombinant jacalin-like plant lectins produced at high levels in Nicotiana benthamiana, Journal of Biotechnology, 2012.
• GoldenBraid: An iterative cloning system for standardized assembly of reusable genetic modules, PLoS One, 2011.
• Tomato-made recombinant human IgA against rotavirus, New Biotechnology, 2009.
• Production of antibodies in plants, Antibody Expression and Production, Springer, 2011. (book chapter)