Staff

Employing cutting-edge 3D imaging technology and Geometric Morphometrics methods, my main research interests are focused on understanding the sources of dental morphology variation in Holocene European populations associated with population dynamics, dietary and cultural past changes.

Originally from Barcelona, my education includes a Bachelors’ degree in Biology (2008) and a Master of Primatology (2009) at the University of Barcelona. I received my PhD in Biodiversity from the University of Barcelona in December 2014. My thesis investigated the phylogenetic and adaptive implications of tooth shape variability in extant and Miocene primates. Throughout my PhD, I was actively involved in several national research projects concerning the study of dental morphology and ecological adaptations of primates at the Zoology and Anthropology Unit (Dept. of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Science), at the University of Barcelona. I also had the chance to collaborate with the international Project Mandrillus (CNRS) in Gabon and participate in several field campaigns to obtain dental moulds of living primates.

Then I moved to archaeological and historical science in my first Post-Doctoral stage at University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland in 2015 as a Research Assistant and later as a Post-Doctoral Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellow in Prof. Ron Pinhasi’s research team (School of Archaeology). There I joined several international research projects focused on the genetic, morphological and dietary diversity of past European populations, specifically during the farming transition. My Marie Sklodowska-Curie project aimed to characterize the changes in dental traits of past Hungarian populations, through cutting-edge 3D imaging technology, such as microcomputed tomography or microCT, and Geometric Morphometrics methods, as well as the dietary factors influencing them. This experience allowed me to get trained in new techniques applied in Archaeology, such as the stable isotope analysis, and the new revolutionary approaches in ancient DNA.

I started working at IPHES in 2019 through the postdoctoral Beatriu de Pinós Fellowship (BP-2017, AGAUR, Generalitat de Catalunya). The aim of this project was to study the dental morphology changes of past populations following the transition to agriculture in Northern Spain. Particularly, I employed the morphological differences of the molar enamel-dentine junction (EDJ) as genetic replacements by means of microCT scans and 3D Geometric Moprhometrics approaches.

Currently, I continue the Dental Virtual Anthropology research line initiated in my previous postdoctoral stage under the framework of Maria de Maeztu Unit of Excellence.