Address and links
Departamental II – 237
Area of Biodiversity and Conservation
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
c/ Tulipán, s/n.
E-28933 Móstoles

Phone: +34 91 488 7397
E-mail: myriam.catala at urjc.es
Homepage at URJC
Scopus: 7005571215
ORCID: 0000-0002-5114-6988
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Myriam_Catala
ResearcherID:  A-3830-2009
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.es/citations?hl=es&user=RkKGbhcAAAAJ

Short CV
2015-2016 Chief of the Area of Environmental Toxicology of the Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental (ISCIII)
2012 Associate professor, Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC). Madrid
2003 Assistant professor in Cell Biology (Interim) URJC
2002 PhD Chemistry, UCM
2001-2003 Adjunct teacher in Histology, URJC
2001 Predoctoral Fellowship at the area of Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the Faculty of Health Science, URJC
1997-2000 Assistant for the Vice-Rector of International Affairs, URJC
1994-97 Responsible of the ERASMUS BUREAU for the Faculties of Science, Complutense University (UCM)
1993 Master with Honors in Biochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, UCM

Current position
Associate professor (senior lecturer).
teach Biology II: Cell Biology (degree in Biology), Chemical Contaminants in Water and their Toxicology (degree in Water Resources) and Environmental Pollution and Diversity at the master level. I am the Academic Director of Continuing Education of the URJC.

Research interests
Keywords: oxidative stress, NO, abiotic stress, lichens, free radicals, microalgae, symbiosis.
My interest for oxidative stress and nitric oxide metabolism dates back to my PhD research work, when the research on free radicals in biomedicine had just begun. I worked on glutathione quantification and the determination of the enzymatic activity of classical antioxidants such as cytosolic and mitochondrial SOD, glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase. I also studied the role of NO in hepatic regulation of oxidative status and the release of intracellular free radicals by flow cytometry.
Nowadays, my interest in free radicals and NO metabolism and regulation is as strong as previously but the models for my research have widened, from invertebrates to vertebrates, from mammals to fish and from plants to lichens. The development of new sensitive biomarkers for the assessment of environmental toxicity has led me to study free radical release and lipid peroxidation in response to micro- and emerging pollutants. My most recent line of research addresses the oxidative balance and regulation of NO during lichens rehydration stress, an extremely new approach that has deserved several Q1 publications. Our results on lichen NO physiology supply the first evidences to support the hypothesis formulated by Martin & Feelisch in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, postulating a role for NO as a key molecule in the evolution of biological symbioses including mitochondrion-eukaryote cell endosymbiosis.
During 2016, I was designated as Head of the Environmental Toxicology Area (TA) of the National Centre for Environmental Health (CNSA). I participated in an European Human Biomonitoring Initiative to a H2020 call backed by the E. Commission where CNSA leads 1 of the 3 pillars and 2 WP. Currently, I have returned to URJC where I continue with my previous research lines, especially involved in lichen symbiosis cell biology and abiotic stress tolerance mechanisms.