Julio Álvarez Sánchez
Qualifications:
PhD in Veterinary Sciences
Diploma de Estudios Avanzados
Degree in Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
Contact
Biography
After defending my PhD in 2008, focused on different aspects of the epidemiology of tuberculosis and paratuberculosis in Spain, I served as the head of the unit of neglected and emerging diseases in the VISAVET Health Surveillance Center, Spain, for two years, and then held two post-doctoral positions at the Spanish wildlife research institute (IREC) of Ciudad Real, Spain, and at the Research Institute Ramón y Cajal (IRYCIS) focusing on the epidemiology of bacterial zoonotic diseases in wildlife and humans. After this I joined the University of Minnesota in 2014, first as a research associate and then as an assistant professor, and came back to VISAVET in 2018 with a Ramon y Cajal postdoctoral contract. My research is currently focused on the application of quantitative approaches for the study of the epidemiology of infectous diseases in the human-animal-environmental interface.
I have co-authored over 100 papers in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, being first or last author in 36 of them; I have acted as PhD advisor of four students in the last 5 years, and currently act as scientific advisor of the European Laboratory for Bovine Tuberculosis, as well as a scientific reviewer for 12 indexed scientific journals.
I have co-authored over 100 papers in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, being first or last author in 36 of them; I have acted as PhD advisor of four students in the last 5 years, and currently act as scientific advisor of the European Laboratory for Bovine Tuberculosis, as well as a scientific reviewer for 12 indexed scientific journals.
Investigation

Research lines:
- Characterization of the emergence of foodborne pathogens subjected to surveillance and monitoring programs through quantitative epidemiology (EPIQ)
- Evaluation of the performance of diagnostic tests for diseases of importance in animal health and assessment of their application in the frame of control and surveillance programs (EPIQ)

Next scientific publications:
- Hayer SS., Rovira A., Olsen K., Johnson TJ., Vannucci F., Rendahl A., Perez AM. and Alvarez J.. Prevalence and trend analysis of antimicrobial resistance in clinical Escherichia coli isolates collected from diseased pigs in the USA between 2006 and 2016. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. (A)
- Babu-Rajendran N., Arieti F., Mena-Benitez CA., Galia L., Tebon M., Alvarez J., Gladstone BP., Collineau L., de Angelis G., Duro R., Gaze W., Gopel S., Kanj SS., Kasbohrer A., Limmathurotsakul D., Lopez de Abechuco E., Mazzolini E., Mutters NT., Pezzani MD., Presterl E., Tacconelli E. and EPI-Net One Health.. EPI-Net One Health reporting guideline for antimicrobial consumption and resistance surveillance data: a Delphi approach. Health Policy. (A)
Last scientific publications:
- Aerts M., Teng KT., Jaspers S. and Alvarez J.. A multicategory logit model detecting temporal changes in antimicrobial resistance. PLoS ONE, 17(12):e0277866. 2022. (A)
- Kanankege K., Errecaborde KM., Wiratsudakul A., Wongnak P., Yoopatthanawong C., Thanapongtharm W., Alvarez J. and Perez A.. Identifying high-risk areas for dog-mediated rabies using Bayesian spatial regression. One Health, 15:100411. 2022. (A)
- Ortega J., de Juan L., Sevilla IA., Garrido JM., Velasco C., Romero B., Dominguez M., Perez del Val B., Nebot C., Saez-Llorente JL., Alvarez J. and Bezos J.. Effect of a recent parenteral dexamethasone and ketoprofen administration on the immunological diagnosis of tuberculosis in goats. Frontiers in veterinary science, 9:1042428. 2022. (A)
- Teng KT., Ugarte-Ruiz M., Moreno MA., Saez-Llorente JL., Collado S., De Frutos C., Dominguez L. and Alvarez J.. Patterns of antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella isolates from fattening pigs in Spain. BMC Veterinary Research, 18(1):333. 2022. (A)
- Hipolito A., Garcia-Pastor L., Blanco P., Trigo de Roza F., Kieffer N., Vergara E., Jove T., Alvarez J. and Escudero JA.. The expression of aminoglycoside resistance genes in integron cassettes is not controlled by riboswitches. Nucleic Acids Research, 50(15):8566-8579. 2022. (A)

Last PhD thesis supervised:
- Pilar Pozo Piñol. Use of Epidemiological Analytic Tools and Molecular Characterization Techniques to Inform Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Programs. 2020.(Doctorado Europeo)
- Mª Luisa de la Cruz Conty. Application of quantitative analytic methods for the epidemiological study of zoonotic diseases. 2018.(Doctorado Europeo)
- Teresa García-Seco Romero. Epidemiology of Q fever in domestic ruminants in the central zone of the Iberian peninsula. 2017.
- Adriana Cabal Rosel. Distribución, cuantificación y caracterización de genes de virulencia de Escherichia coli en reservorios animales, humanos y medioambientales. 2016.(Doctorado Internacional)
- Carmen Casal Comendador. Diagnosis of tuberculosis in ruminants and camelids: optimization of cell-based and humoral tests. 2016.(Laboratorios Ovejero Award, PhD Extraordinary Award, Doctorado Europeo)
Outreach

Last outreach publications:
- Alvarez J.. Emergencia del virus de la viruela del mono: ¿Un problema de sanidad animal?. Profesión Veterinaria, 99:10-21, Ilustre Colegio Oficial de Veterinarios de Madrid. 2023.
- de Juan L., Alvarez J., Balseiro A., Bezos J., Bru G., Garrido J., Gonzalez S., Gortazar C., Martinez A., Perez B. and Romero B.. Tuberculosis. Conocida y compartida. Actualidad redrisa.es, Red de Investigación en Sanidad Animal (RISA). 2022.
- Alvarez J.. World Tuberculosis (TB) Day - 24th March 2022. Zoonoses and Public Health, Wiley. 2022.
- Gonzalez S., Lozano F., Alvarez J., Romero B., Bezos J. and de Juan L.. Tuberculosis in the new Animal Health Law. VISAVET Outreach Journal, VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre (U.C.M.). 2021.
- Minguez O., Saez JL., Alvarez J. and Munoz-Mendoza M.. Situación de la tuberculosis animal: mundo, Europa, Península Ibérica. Legislación que aplica. 2:31-40, Tuberculosis animal: una aproximación desde la perspectiva de la Ciencia y la Administración. Ed. 1. Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. 2020.

Last communications:
- Alvarez J.. Gripe aviar en visones. Telediario 1. 2023. (TV interview)
- Alvarez J.. One Health. Zoonosis y One Health. XXII Semana de la Ciencia Madri+d. 2022. (Oral communication)
- Romero B., Alvarez J., Bezos J., Dominguez L., Lozano F., Rodriguez-Bertos A. and de Juan L.. Nuevos avances científicos de los Grupos de investigación. Laboratorio de Referencia Europeo (EU-RL) de Tuberculosis Bovina. II Workshop Ibérico en Tuberculosis Animal. 2022. (Oral communication)
- Alvarez J., Bezos J., Dominguez L., de Juan L., Gómez-Buendía A., Lorente-Leal V., Lozano F., Ortega J., Pozo P., Rodriguez-Bertos A. and Romero B.. Nuevos avances científicos de los Grupos de investigación. Grupo de Investigación: Servicio de Micobacterias - Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET-UCM). II Workshop Ibérico en Tuberculosis Animal. 2022. (Oral communication)
- Alvarez J.. Estudios epidemiológicos en la explotación/zona. Las encuestas epidemiológicas. Curso de formación en los aspectos teóricos, prácticos y de base legal en el diagnóstico de la tuberculosis bovina. 2022. (Oral communication)