PhD in Biology (1991) University of Granada (UGR). PFPI grant from Junta de Andalucía (1988-1991). The PhD thesis also received the “Premio Extraordinario de Doctorado UGR". Posdoctoral grant at UGR (1991-1992). Postdoctoral fellowship (MEC) at The Center for Protein Engineering (Centre d'Ingéniérie des Protéines, CIP) of the University of Liège, Belgium (1993-1994), Postdoctoral Research Associate (1995-1998) and Assistant Professor (1998-2000). Promoted to Associate Professor (2000-2010) and, since 2010, holds the position of Full Professor at the Department of Microbiology (UGR). His research focused on (i) identification and characterization of different types of microbial growth inhibitors produced by bacteria; (ii) diversity of lactic acid bacteria in foods; bacterial biodiversity of mutualistic bacteria in birds in collaboration with CSIC; (iv) microbial interaction; (v) applications of antimicrobial peptides in food and clinical settings; (vi) technological and functional properties of probiotics and prebiotics, and the use of C. elegans as subrogate model. He is an expert on molecular techniques, purification and biochemical characterization of proteins, as well as the application of food preservatives, NGS, functional genomics, and microbial diversity. He has published more than 140 articles, received nearly 6000 citations (Web of Science, Scopus), supervised 10 doctoral theses, and has been awarded more than 12 grants for research (7 as IP) and development projects with competitive public financing (national and regional). Additionally, he has signed a number of technology transfer projects with companies and holds one research patent. UGR-Caja Rural Granada Awards for Excellence in Research 2019 (21/02/2020). Experimental Sciences Area.