SHORT SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC LIFE

Laura Rago (Cosenza, IT, 1986) earned her degree in Biotechnology and Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical, Veterinary and Medical Biotechnologies at Università Magna Græcia di Catanzaro in Italy, in 2008 and 2011 respectively. She was a PhD student (with a Spanish pre-doctoral scholarship) at the Department of Chemical Engineering from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. She focuses her research on the characterization of the microbiological community in bioelectrochemical systems, such as MFC and MEC. In 2013, she participated in a research stay at the Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology in the Arizona State University (Tempe, USA).

Laura’s research interests during this period were:

• Understanding the fundamentals of bioelectrochemical systems for hydrogen and electricity production from wastewaters
• Bioelectrochemical hydrogen and electricity production from dairy wastewater and whey
• Use of advanced microbiological tools (like qPCR and 16S Pyrosequencing) to achieve a better understanding on the previous biological processes
• Use of methagenomics to study the changes in the microbiological community
• Study and inhibition of methanogenesis and homoacetogenesis in mixed culture reactors

As a result of her research, she has participated in two international meetings:

-     4th International Microbial Fuel Cells Conference in Cairns, Australia. 2013

-     2^nd European meeting of the International Society for Microbial Electrochemistry and Technologies (ISMET) Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain. 2014

PUBLICATIONS

1. L. Rago, J. Guerrero, J. A. Baeza, A. Guisasola (2015), Revealed 2-Bromoethanesulfonate degradation in bioelectrochemical systems. Bioelectrochemistry (accepted)
2. L. Rago, Yolanda Ruiz, J. A. Baeza, A. Guisasola, P. Cortés Microbial community analysis in a long-term membrane-less microbial electrolysis cell with hydrogen and methane production. Bioelectrochemistry (under revision),
3. N. Montpart, L. Rago, J.A. Baeza, A. Guisasola, (2014). Hydrogen production in single chamber microbial electrolysis cells with different complex substrates. Water Research vol. 68 p. 601-615.
4. N. Montpart, E. Ribot-Llobet, V. K. Garlapati, L. Rago, J.A. Baeza, A. Guisasola, (2013). Methanol opportunities for electricity and hydrogen production in bioelectrochemical systems. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 01/2014; 39(2):770-777. 
5. E. Ribot-Llobet, N. Montpart, Y. Ruiz-Franco, L. Rago, J. Lafuente, J.A. Baeza, A. Guisasola, (2013), Obtaining microbial communities with exoelectrogenic activity from anaerobic sludge using a simplified procedure. J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol.
6. A.M. Montebello, T. Bezerra, R. Rovira, L. Rago, J. Lafuente, X. Gamisans, D. Gabriel , (2013), Operational Aspects, pH Transition and Microbial Shifts of a H2S Desulfurizing Biotrickling Filter with Random Packing Material. Chemosphere