MONICA
MEIJON VIDAL

I graduated in Biology in 1998 and Biochemistry in 2000 from the University of Oviedo. In 2004, I was awarded a pre-doctoral FPI-INIA grant and began my Ph.D. studies at the University of Oviedo in the Plant Physiology area, collaborating with SERIDA-INIA. I successfully completed my doctorate in 2009, focusing on floral development and improving ornamental quality in plants. I have over two years of international postdoctoral experience, spending most of this time at the Gregor Mendel Institute (GMI) in Vienna, Austria. My primary research there focused on identifying novel regulatory elements involved in Arabidopsis root development using an innovative approach that combined high-throughput confocal microscopy imaging with genome-wide association studies (GWAS). This work was published in Nature Genetics. In November 2012, I started a Juan de la Cierva project at SERIDA-INIA, aiming to deepen the molecular understanding of polycyclic growth—an essential trait for pine breeding strategies. To achieve this, I utilized omics approaches to establish regulatory networks involved in apical meristem development and epigenetic regulation in conifers. In recognition of my research contributions, I was awarded a Ramón y Cajal grant (2014 call). I moved to the University of Oviedo in 2015, where my work focused on leveraging natural variation and integrative omics approaches to enhance knowledge of stress response mechanisms in conifers. In 2021, I was appointed as a Profesora Titular at the University of Oviedo. I regularly teach in two Master's programs at the University of Oviedo: one in Biology and the other in Biotechnology. I have supervised three doctoral theses, all successfully defended, with the candidates advancing in their scientific careers. Mónica Escandón spent several years as a postdoc in Portugal and Córdoba before rejoining my group in a Ramón y Cajal position. Laura Lamelas recently secured a postdoctoral position in Philip Wigge's group at IGZ (Germany), while Sara Guerrero joined Isabel Montes’s group at the University of Tübingen (Germany). Additionally, I have directed twelve Master's theses and supervised fifteen undergraduate projects. Currently, I am supervising three Ph.D. students at the University of Oviedo. To date, I have actively participated in three teaching innovation projects at the University of Oviedo and one international Erasmus+ project. Since 2022, I have served as the coordinator of the Master's program in Biotechnology Applied to the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Plant Resources at the University of Oviedo. So far, I have been the principal investigator (PI) in four projects and have contributed as a researcher in one European, 12 national, and two regional projects. I have published 47 papers in SCI-indexed journals, nine book chapters, and two outreach articles. Over 90% of my publications are within the first quartile (Q1), with 37% as first or last author. I have participated in over 30 national and international conferences and served on the scientific committees of several national and international meetings. Since January 2021, I have been an associate editor for Trees: Structure and Function and regularly review manuscripts for journals such as Journal of Proteomics, Physiologia Plantarum, Scientific Reports, Plant Cell and Environment, Plant Physiology, and New Phytologist. Additionally, I am a regular evaluator for funding agencies such as AEI, the EU Framework Program, and other national bodies, including the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Finally, I consider it essential to engage with society at various levels. Alongside my teaching duties, I actively participate in outreach activities such as the European Researchers' Night and Semana de la Ciencia.