Marina Badia Fabregat (Barcelona, 1987) is a Biotechnologist (UAB, 2009) and PhD in Environmental Science and Technology with the thesis entitled “Study of relevant factors in the treatment of effluents by fungi for the degradation of emerging contaminants” awarded with Cum Laude and European Mention (UAB, 2014). This work was conducted in the BioremUAB group, which is part of the Department of Chemical Engineering of UAB, and supervised by Dr. Glòria Caminal and Dr. Teresa Vicent. The topic of her research was the treatment of real effluents to remove the emerging contaminants (i.e. pharmaceutical and endocrine disrupting compounds) present in the wastewater by using the ligninolytic fungus Trametes versicolor, taking advantege of its wide oxydative enzymatic system. Studies to understand the fungal degradation mechanisms using, for example, compounds labeled with stable isotopes were also performed. In this period, she was a visiting researcher during two months in the Department of Biological Engineering (Universidade do Minho, Portugal) under the supervision of Dr. Alcina Pereira and Dr. Madalena Alves and other five months in the Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA, Finland) supervised by Dr. Taina Pennanen and Dr. Hannu Fritze. The aim of both research stays was to analyse the microbial communities grown in the fungal bioreactors by means of molecular biology tools. After her PhD thesis, she moved to GENOCOV group (UAB) as postdoctoral researcher in the group headed by Dr. Albert Guisasola and Dr. Juan Antonio Baeza, collaborating in their two main research lines: Bioelectrochemical systems for the valorization of wastewaters and Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal (EBPR). 

Marina’s research interests for this period were:     

• Development and optimization of Enhanced Biological Phosphorous Removal (EBPR) process using carbon sources other than volatile fatty acids (i.e. glutamate).
• Characterization of the microbial population grown in the EBPR system using molecular biology tools such as FISH and pyrosequencing.
• Valorization of residues (i.e. crude glycerol) for energy production (H₂ or CH₄) using Microbial Electrolysis Cells (MEC) working under basic conditions.
• Comparison of methane production between classical anaerobic digestion and novel MEC.
• Use of Bioelectrochemical Systems (BES) for bioremediation of water polluted with chlorinated compounds (e.g. TCE and PCE).

• Identification and study of microbial populations for a better understanding of bioelectrochemical processes.

As a result of her research, she has contributed so far to the publication of 6 international peer-reviewed papers with a high impact factor and two book chapters. Additionally, she has presented her results in many national and international conferences. According to SCOPUS (15/04/15) she has 49 citations and a Hirsch index (h=4). She was also finalist in the Environmental Science Awards of COAMB in the Research Project area with the project entitled Biodegradation by ligninolytic fungi of emerging contaminants with endocrine disrupting activity and in the Ideas Generation Program of PRUAB with the project “Fungtional” about bioremediation of soils and aquifers with Trametes versicolor.

PUBLICATIONS

1. The FEBS Journal 277, 1713-1725.
2. Evaluation of fungal- and photo-degradation as potential treatments for the removal of sunscreens BP3 and BP1. Science of the Total Environment 427-428, 355-363.
3. Degradation of UV filters in sewage sludge and 4-MBC in liquid medium by the ligninolytic fungus Trametes versicolor. Journal of Environmental Management 104, 114-120.
4. UV filters degradation by fungi, metabolites identification and hormonal activity assessment in "Emerging Organic Contaminants in Sludge. Analysis, Fate and Biological Treatment.". The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry 24, 215 - 240.
5. Chemosphere 103, 336-342.
6. Isolation of PAH dwelling Penicillium for application in bioremediation processes. New Biotechnology 31S, S64-S64.
7. Identification of some factors affecting the fungal treatment of real wastewater. Case study of PhACs removal in reverse osmosis concentrate. Journal of Hazardous Materials 283, 663-671.
8. Degradation of pharmaceuticals from Membrane Biological Reactor sludge with Trametes versicolor. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts 17, 429-440.
9. Fungal-Mediated Biodegradation of Ingredients in Personal Care Products in "Personal Care Products in the Aquatic Environment". Handbook of Environmental Chemistry. Accepted. Available online at: <DOI 10.1007/698_2014_329>

LINKS

Thesis:https://www.educacion.gob.es/teseo/mostrarRef.do?ref=1127022