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Dr Antonio Bennāsar Figueras

Dr Antonio Bennāsar Figueras
Senior lecturer
Microbiology
  • Despatx 13Bplanta baixaGuillem Colom i Casasnovas

Curriculum

Brief CV

Antoni Bennasar Figueras (hereinafter, ABF) is a Doctor in Biology from the University of the Balearic Islands (1995). In the training stage, ABF obtained a grant from the Consell Insular de Mallorca (1990) at the Coastal Center of the Balearic Islands of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), an FPI grant (1991-94) associated to the Higher Research Council (CSIC) at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IEA), a fellowship for the Training of Research Personnel Abroad (1996-97) at the Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung mbH (GBF) in Germany. Finally, as a continuation of his postdoctoral period abroad, he was contracted at the GBF (1998-2000). During the teaching career, ABF has been Associated Professor (2000-2004), Doctor Contracted Professor (2004-2011) and Professor of University (2011-Present) of the Microbiology Area at ​​the UIB.

In addition, ABF has been responsible for the Biotechnology Area of ​​the company GridSystems (2001-03) and the Founding President of Biogenia Research (2003-05), a biotechnology-based spin-off company of the UIB. The company Biogenia Research was awarded in the VI Contest of Business Projects (2003) and the best project of Mallorca in the III Illes Balears Innovation Contest in the category of technological innovation project ideas (2004).

Since the development of the Doctoral Thesis (1995) and to date, ABF has devoted much of his professional activity to the areas of applied environmental microbiology, molecular microbial ecology, characterization of microbial communities, biological containment systems for recombinant bacteria, food safety and traceability, the application of microbiological analysis methods; and especially to the development of advanced strategies and techniques for the detection, identification and characterization of microorganisms (Legionella, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Mycobacterium, Caulobacter). In this regard, it is noteworthy the development of a highly sensitive method, based on the immuno-PCR technique, for the detection of aflatoxins in foods.

The experience acquired in the business world has allowed ABF to gain skills for the phenotypic identification and molecular characterization of pathogenic microorganisms; especially those related to the food quality control and safety. The responsibilities performed in GridSystems and Biogenia Research, its participation as a main researcher in two genomics projects of the Spanish National Plan for research and as a researcher in a CONSOLIDER project (Microgen); have allowed ABF to specialize in the application of new high-performance sequencing technologies NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) to microbiology and to acquire the necessary knowledge and know-how in bioinformatics for the assembly, annotation and comparative analysis of microorganism genomes; as well as for the construction, maintenance and mining of databases. In parallel, ABF has acquired the necessary knowledge to manage the administration of various operating systems (UNIX, Linux, Apple and Windows); construction, administration and mining of relational databases (MySQL, Postgresql), and application of various programming languages (SQL, PHP, Java, Perl, Python and R) applied in the field of Microbiology.

ABF is currently an active member of the Research Group of the Microbiology Area of the Biology Department of UIB and Director of the Master's Degree in Advanced Microbiology. As responsible for experimentation with biological agents, ABF has been vice president (2014-18) and president of the Biosafety Committee of the UIB (since June 2018).

In summary, ABF currently has four five-year periods (quinquenios) or teaching merits and four six-year terms (sexenios) or research merits recognized by ANECA. The consolidation and continuous updating of the different knowledge and skills acquired through the research experience and the incursions into the biotechnology business world, constitute the essential pillars on which ABF intends to sustain both teaching and research work in an integrating manner, which allows the development of innovative research and offers training with promising perspectives to new student generations in the Microbiology field.

Teaching

Office Hours

You need to book a date with the professor in order to attend a tutoring session

Teaching, 5 previous years

Subject Information
11078 - Microbiological Analytical Techniques
11079 - Master's Thesis
11080 - Internships in Companies
11081 - Research Group Internships
21519 - Microbiological Analyses
23019 - Microbiology

Research

Research groups

Group Membership type
Microbiology (Microbio) Member
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