Postdoc María Santos Merino receives 2022 Postdoctoral Excellence in Research Award
Established in 2016 with support from the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation, the Postdoctoral Excellence in Research Award is annually given to two exceptional Postdoctoral Researchers for their contributions to MSU and the greater research community.
Dr. María Santos Merino received her BS degree in Biotechnology from the University of León, Spain in 2010. It was at this point when she first had contact with a fundamental research project, working as a research assistant in the genetics unit in the Faculty of Veterinary (University of León, Spain). María received her MS degree in 2011 from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain and her PhD in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine in 2017 from the University of Cantabria, Spain. In 2019, she received an Extraordinary Doctorate Award from the University of Cantabria for the exceptional quality of the results generated in her dissertation.
Dr. Santos Merino currently works as a postdoctoral research associate in the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory in the laboratory of Dr. Daniel Ducat, where she investigates the basic mechanisms of photosynthesis in cyanobacteria with the goal to improve their photosynthetic efficiency. Cyanobacterial biotechnological applications (e.g., biofuel production) require increased productivity to be economically-competitive with current production methods. Thus, maximizing cyanobacterial photosynthetic efficiency is a grand challenge that is therefore tied to the economic viability of sustainable bioproduction
María has authored 7 peer-reviewed publications, 4 during her time at MSU, and she presented her MSU research in 7 talks, receiving an award in one of them for her outstanding oral presentation as postdoctoral fellow. She has recently received the Clarence Suelter Endowed Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which recognizes outstanding postdoctoral accomplishments and also supports career development. In addition, Dr. Santos Merino has proven herself as an effective mentor during her stage in MSU, by mentoring 5 undergraduate students and 2 graduate students.
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