María Ugarte Ruiz
Unit Chief
Foodborne Zoonoses and Antimicrobial Resistance Unit
Qualifications:
PhD in Veterinary Sciences
Máster en Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias
Degree in Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
Biography
María Ugarte Ruiz holds a Degree in Veterinary Science by Complutense University (2003-2008) and finished her studies at “École Nationale Vétérinaire, Toulouse” (France). She joined VISAVET Health Surveillance Center UCM as a researcher in 2009 and carried out a Master of Veterinary Science by Complutense University. In 2011 was awarded with a predoctoral grant (FPU) from Spanish Ministry due to her academic record. During that period, she realized internships at the London School and Tropical Medicine and in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio, USA. In July 2015 she defended her doctoral thesis entitled "Detection and characterization of Campylobacter from animals, food and sewage water”, qualified as “Sobresaliente cum laude”.
Currently is the Head of Foodborne Zoonoses and Antimicrobial Resistance Unit at VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre at Complutense University Madrid, Spain. She is in charge of several lines of research on the characterization of important foodborne pathogens for Public Health and the mechanisms involved in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance by using molecular tecniques as well as sequencing.
On the other hand, she has a solid background experience on foodborne zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance in Biosafety level 2 and 3 laboratories. Besides, she has a great experience on classical microbiological techniques for antimicrobial resistance testing and epidemiological studies, as well as molecular characterization. She has participated in more than 30 research projects and in contracts and agreements with companies and Public Administrations, as a predoctoral fellow and, in recent years, as head of ZTA Unit. Her research resulting to date in 23 scientist’s articles, six of them as first author (12 Q1; 8 Q2; 3 Q3), as well as 29 participations in international conferences. She also co-authored the chapter of two books. Her h-index has risen recently to 8, receiving more than 200 citations for published works.
As an official veterinarian, she has expanded her academic training and participated as Assistant teacher (Inmunology and Microbiology) at Veterinary Medicine Degree at Complutense University from 2009. She has also taught at the official University Master`s Degree in Animal Production and Health and in training courses of the Community of Madrid, Veterinary Colleges etc. She participated in supervision of graduate students in their research projects. She has achieved the accreditation of Assistant Professor of University by ANECA in 2016 and Associate Professor in 2019.
Currently is the Head of Foodborne Zoonoses and Antimicrobial Resistance Unit at VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre at Complutense University Madrid, Spain. She is in charge of several lines of research on the characterization of important foodborne pathogens for Public Health and the mechanisms involved in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance by using molecular tecniques as well as sequencing.
On the other hand, she has a solid background experience on foodborne zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance in Biosafety level 2 and 3 laboratories. Besides, she has a great experience on classical microbiological techniques for antimicrobial resistance testing and epidemiological studies, as well as molecular characterization. She has participated in more than 30 research projects and in contracts and agreements with companies and Public Administrations, as a predoctoral fellow and, in recent years, as head of ZTA Unit. Her research resulting to date in 23 scientist’s articles, six of them as first author (12 Q1; 8 Q2; 3 Q3), as well as 29 participations in international conferences. She also co-authored the chapter of two books. Her h-index has risen recently to 8, receiving more than 200 citations for published works.
As an official veterinarian, she has expanded her academic training and participated as Assistant teacher (Inmunology and Microbiology) at Veterinary Medicine Degree at Complutense University from 2009. She has also taught at the official University Master`s Degree in Animal Production and Health and in training courses of the Community of Madrid, Veterinary Colleges etc. She participated in supervision of graduate students in their research projects. She has achieved the accreditation of Assistant Professor of University by ANECA in 2016 and Associate Professor in 2019.
Investigation
Research lines:
- Modification of intestinal microbiota, Healthy Gut (ZTA)
- Genetic characterization of Campylobacter (ZTA)
- Molecular characterization of human reservoirs potentially pathogenic Escherichia coli, animal and environmental (ZTA)
- Genetic characterization of antimicrobial resistance (ZTA)
- Genetic characterization of microorganisms populations (ZTA)
- Foodborne zoonoses in animals and meat, eggs and other products from animal origin intended for human consumption, mainly Salmonella spp. Campylobacter spp., Verotoxigenic Escherichia coli and Yersinia enterocolitica (ZTA)
- Antimicrobial resistances in pathogens, food-borne zoonotic agents and indicators (ZTA)
Last scientific publications:
- Alvarez J., Lopez-Perez G., Muellner P., De Frutos C., Ahistrom C., Serrano T., Moreno MA., Duran M., Saez JL., Dominguez L. and Ugarte-Ruiz M.. Identifying emerging trends in antimicrobial resistance using Salmonella surveillance data in poultry in Spain. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, 67(1):250-262. 2020. (A)
- Mourkas E., Florez-Cuadrado D., Pascoe B., Calland JK., Bayliss SC., Mageiros L., Meric G., Hitchings MD., Quesada A., Porrero MC., Ugarte-Ruiz M., Gutierrez-Fernandez J., Dominguez L. and Sheppard SK.. Gene pool transmission of multidrug resistance among Campylobacter from livestock, sewage and human disease. Environmental Microbiology, 21(12):4597-4613. 2019. (A)
- Saka, K.H., Dabo NT., Muhammad B., Garcia-Soto S., Ugarte-Ruiz M. and Alvarez J.. Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli Pathotypes From Children Younger Than 5 Years in Kano State, Nigeria. Frontiers in Public Health, 7:348. 2019. (A)
- Rebollada A., Barcena C., Ugarte-Ruiz M., Porras-Gonzalez N., Mayoral-Alegre F., Tome-Sanchez I., Dominguez L. and Rodriguez-Bertos A.. Effects on Intestinal Mucosal Morphology, Productive Parameters and Microbiota Composition after Supplementation with Fermented Defatted Alperujo (FDA) in Laying Hens. Antibiotics, 8(4):E215. 2019. (A)
- Miguela-Villoldo P., Hernandez M., Moreno MA., Rodriguez-Lazaro D., Quesada A., Dominguez L. and Ugarte-Ruiz M.. Carbapenemase-producing Elizabethkingia meningoseptica from healthy pigs associated with colistin use in Spain. Antibiotics, 8,146. 2019. (A)
Outreach
Last outreach publications:
- Florez-Cuadrado D., Moreno MA., Ugarte-Ruiz M. and Dominguez L.. Antimicrobial Resistance in the Food Chain in the European Union. 86(5):115-136, Biological Emerging Risks in Foods. Ed. 1. Academic Press. 2018.
- Leekitcharoenphon P., Garcia-Graels C., Botteldoorn N., Dierick K., Kempf I., Olkkola S., Rossi M., Nykasenoja S., Malorny B., Stingl K., Battisti A., Franco A., Mossong J., Veldman K., Mevius D., Wasyl D., Wieczorek K., Osek J., Clemente L., Lacatus A., Nicorescu I., Aguero Garcia M., de Frutos Escobar C., Duran Ferrer M., Ugarte-Ruiz M., Anjum MF., Teale C., Agren J., Hendriksen RS. and Aarestrup FM.. Comparative genomics of quinolone-resistantand susceptibleCampylobacter jejuniof oultry origin from major poultry producing European countries (GENCAMP). EFSA Journal, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). 2018.
- Moreno MA., Florez-Cuadrado D., Ugarte-Ruiz M. and Dominguez L.. Veterinarios y antibióticos: destinados a entenderse. Profesión Veterinaria, Asís. 2018.
- Florez-Cuadrado D., Ugarte-Ruiz M., Moreno MA. and Dominguez L.. Bacterias que no temen a los antibióticos. Profesión Veterinaria, 22(88):6-13, Colegio Oficial de Veterinarios de Madrid. 2017.
- Navarro-Gonzalez N., Ugarte-Ruiz M., Dominguez L. and Ruiz-Fons F.. A European perspective on the transmission of food-borne pathogens at the wildlife-livestock-human interface. Food Safety Risks from wildlife: Challenges in Agriculture, Conservation and Public Health. Ed. 1. Springer International Publishing . 2016.
Last communications:
- Lopez-Chavarrias V., Teng KT., Ugarte-Ruiz M., Moreno MA., Lopez G., Dominguez L. and Alvarez J.. Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance in Campylobacter coli from Broilers and Pigs in Spain from 2002 to 2015. 1st One Health EJP Annual Scientific Meeting. 2019. (Oral communication)
- Miguela-Villoldo P., Maasoumi N., Hernandez M., Moreno MA., Rodriguez-Lazaro D., Garcia M., Quesada M., Rivero E., Dominguez L. and Ugarte-Ruiz M.. Use of Quantitative Real-time PCR for Testing Trends of the mcr1 Colistin-resistance Gene in Spanish Pig Caecal Content. 1st One Health EJP Annual Scientific Meeting. 2019. (Poster communication)
- Ugarte-Ruiz M.. Cultivo, identificación microbiológica y resistencia a antimicrobianos. Jornada de Inmersión Científica UCM Cientifícate. 2019. (Oral communication)
- Teng KT., Martinez-Aviles M., Ugarte-Ruiz M., Barcena C., de la Torre A., Lopez G. and Alvarez J.. O, Salmonella, Where Art Thou? Modelling Salmonella infection in swine farms in Spain using Hamiltonian Monte Carlo methods. GeoVet 2019. Novel spatio-temporal approaches in the era of Big Data. 2019. (Oral communication)
- Ugarte-Ruiz M.. Diagnóstico de zoonosis de transmisión alimentaria y vigilancia de la resistencia a antimicrobianos. Centro VISAVET-UCM: cómo trabajar en un laboratorio de alta seguridad biológica. XIX Semana de la Ciencia Madri+d. 2019. (Oral communication)
