Alejandro Garrido-Maestu joined the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory in July 2015 as a Marie Curie COFUND Research Fellow.  Within this project his research was aimed to develop a fast multipathogen detection lab-on-a-chip based on DNA amplification by loop-mediated isothermal amplification combined with gold nanoparticles. He is interested in the development, and application, of molecular methods for the detection and quantification of foodborne pathogens, implementation of bacteriophages as fast detection tools, and discrimination among viable and dead microorganisms. To this end, he is working with different DNA amplification techniques such as PCR/ qPCR, LAMP, LCR or RPA.

Dr. Garrido-Maestu holds a Diploma in Biology (2006), and a Master in Methodologies and Applications in Life Sciences (2010) from the University of Vigo, where he also obtained his Ph.D. (2013). He started his postdoctoral training in the Emerging Pathogens Institute working in the synthesis and evaluation of chitosan nanoparticles for the control of E. coli O157 in cattle.

• F. Roumanni, S. Azinheiro, J. Carvalho, M. Prado, A. Garrido-Maestu. (2021)
  Loop-mediated isothermal amplification combined with immunomagnetic separation and propidium monoazide for the specific detection of viable Listeria monocytogenes in milk products, with an internal amplification control
  Food Control

• A. Garrido-Maestu, S. Azinheiro, J. Carvalho, S. Abalde-Cela, E. Carbó-Argibay, L. Diéguez, M. Piotrowski, Y. V. Kolen’ko and M. Prado
  Combination of Microfluidic Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification with Gold Nanoparticles for Rapid Detection of Salmonella spp
  Food Samples. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2017 (8)

• A. Garrido-Maestu, S. Azinheiro, J. Carvalho, M. Prado
  Rapid and sensitive detection of viable Listeria monocytogenes in food products by a filtration-based protocol and qPCR
  Food Microbiology. 2018 73 (2018) 254-263

• A. Garrido-Maestu, Z. Ma, SYR Paik, N. Chen, S. Ko, Z. Tong, K. C. Jeong
  Engineering of chitosan-derived nanoparticles to enhance antimicrobial activity against foodborne pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7
  Carbohydrate Polymers. 2018, 197: 623-630

• S. Azinheiro, J. Carvalho, M. Prado, A. Garrido-Maestu. (2020)
  Application of Recombinase Polymerase Amplification with Lateral Flow for a Naked-Eye Detection of Listeria monocytogenes on Food Processing Surfaces
  Foods