María Castillo Orenes

David Herrero Navarro holds a degree in Biotechnology from Miguel Hernández University of Elche, where he developed an early interest in organic and materials chemistry. During his undergraduate studies, he joined the research group of Prof. Ángela Sastre Santos, working on the synthesis and characterization of functionalized silicon phthalocyanines. He subsequently completed a Master’s degree in Molecular Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, further expanding his interdisciplinary background in chemistry, nanoscience, and molecular materials such as MOFs.

In 2020, he began his PhD in Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of Göttingen, where he was part of the research groups of Prof. Ulf Diederichsen and Prof. Manuel Alcarazo. His doctoral thesis focused on the chemistry of sulfur, including the development of model systems for the study of NOS bridges in proteins and the design of sulfonium salt-based reagents for the late-stage functionalization of heteroarenes. During this period, he contributed to the development of new fluorinated motifs of interest in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology.

After completing his PhD, he joined the research group of Prof. Juan Ignacio Padrón at the Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology (IPNA-CSIC) as a postdoctoral researcher. His current research is carried out within the Ciguatera project, which focuses on the detection of ciguatoxins in contaminated fish using analytical chemistry techniques, such as LC-MS, as well as cell biology techniques, including cytotoxicity assays.