Research - Our Team

BS in Biology by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) with minors in Biochemistry and Genetics (1999). His PhD studies (Barcelona/Stockholm) dealt with the molecular characterization of ribonucleotide reduction in bacteria.

After a few years of research and teaching Microbiology courses at the UAB, he moved to the Department of Microbiology at the Hospital Clinic to work on antimicrobial resistance mechanisms and in 2013 joined ISGlobal's research centre as Assistant Research Professor.

His main research interests are concerned with the identification and characterization of genetic determinants that either enhance the course of infectious processes or are needed for proliferation and persistence of microbial pathogens within the human host. Such determinants involve transcriptional regulators, virulence factors, antimicrobial resistance mechanisms and essential genes.

At present, the bulk of his research is centred on Gram-negative bacteria and, more specifically, on the non-fermenter Acinetobacter baumannii. In this respect he is involved in several research programs to investigate the fundamentals and the epidemiology of new highly virulent multiresistant strains, the impact of antibiotic exposure and regime choice on antimicrobial resistance as well as the discovery of novel antimicrobial drug targets and the development of rapid diagnostic tests.

Lines of research

• Identification/Characterization of bacterial virulence factors and antibiotic resistance mechanisms
• Epidemiology of Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria
• Development of rapid diagnostic tools for bacterial infections

Main publications

•  In vitro and in vivo virulence potential of the emergent species of the Acinetobacter baumannii (Ab) group., Cosgaya C, Ratia C, Marí-Almirall M, Rubio L, Higgins PG, Seifert H, Roca I, Vila J. Front. Microbiol. In press. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02429; (2019)
•  Pathogenic Acinetobacter species including the novel Acinetobacter dijkshoorniae recovered from market meat in Peru. Marí-Almirall M, Cosgaya C, Pons MJ, Nemec A, Ochoa TJ, Ruiz J, Roca I, Vila J. Int J Food Microbiol. 305: 108248; (2019)
•  MALDI-TOF/MS identification of species from the Acinetobacter baumannii (Ab) group revisited: inclusion of the novel A. seifertii and A. dijkshoorniae species. Mari-Almirall M, Cosgaya C, Higgins PG, Van Assche A, Telli M, Huys G, Lievens B, Seifert H, Dijkshoorn L, Roca I, Vila J. Clin Microbiol Infect. 23: 210 e1- e9; (2017)
•  Automated categorization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates into different clonal complexes by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Camoez M, Sierra JM, Domínguez MA, Ferrer-Navarro M, Vila J, Roca I. Clin Microbiol Infect. 22: 161 e1-7; (2016)
•  Identification of NDM-1 in a Putatively Novel Acinetobacter Species ("NB14") Closely Related to Acinetobacter pittii. Espinal P, Mosqueda N, Telli M, van der Reijden T, Rolo D, Fernandez-Orth D, Dijkshoorn L, Roca I, Vila J. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 59: 6657-60; (2015)