Ignacio Insua López

Ignacio Insua López is a Ramón y Cajal Researcher at the University of Santiago de Compostela's CiQUS research center, where he leads the Insua research group focused on supramolecular peptide nanomaterials. He holds a Pharmacy degree from USC and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Birmingham (2017), followed by postdoctoral positions at the University of Melbourne and CiQUS-USC through prestigious fellowships.

His research integrates chemistry and nanotechnology to develop functional peptide assemblies for biomedical applications. Key interests include:

• Designing cytotoxic nanostructures with controlled antimicrobial/antitumor activity regulated by supramolecular states
• Developing cooperative supramolecular systems for molecular recognition and self-replication
• Creating minimal synthetic cells (protocells) that mimic cellular functions

Honors include:

• ERC Starting Grant (2024) for supramolecular antibiotics research
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship
• Ramón y Cajal Fellowship
• Juan de la Cierva Fellowship

He currently supervises PhD student Sela González Domínguez and leads the ERC-funded project 'Supramolecular Self-Replicating Antimicrobials (Replicate)'. His lab focuses on creating next-generation therapeutic tools through peptide engineering.