Begoña Espiña Barbeitos

Begoña Espiña Barbeitos serves as Research Scientist and Group Leader of the Water Quality Research Group at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) since October 2016, directing cutting-edge research in water contaminant detection and nanomaterials safety assessment.

She earned her Bachelor's (2003) and PhD (2009) in Biology from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), Spain, where her doctoral work focused on biotoxins toxicity and biological detection methods. Following her PhD, she held the Isabel Barreto grant and served as a researcher in USC's Department of Pharmacology (2009-2011) managing trans-national projects ATLANTOX and PHARMATLANTIC under the Atlantic Area Operational Programme.

Her research integrates environmental nanotechnology with practical water quality solutions, specializing in portable biosensors for chemical/biological contaminants and safety-by-design frameworks for nanomaterials. Current work addresses critical gaps in microcystin detection, nanoparticle toxicity assessment, and pharmaceutical removal from aquatic systems using advanced materials like covalent organic frameworks.

Recent publications (2019-2021) demonstrate consistent innovation in environmental nanosafety, with emphasis on field-deployable detection systems and structure-function relationships of nanomaterials in complex water matrices across marine, estuary, and freshwater environments.

Scientific recognition includes the Isabel Barreto grant and two filed patents, supported by over 60 peer-reviewed publications achieving an h-index of 23 (Scopus).

As principal investigator, she leads multiple EU projects (LABPLAS, D4RUNOFF, SbD4Nano, AIHABs, DIGIRAS) and coordinates the EEA grant OPTIRAS, while contributing to Water Europe working groups and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC).

Her Water Quality Research Group develops next-generation analytical solutions for real-world water contamination challenges through interdisciplinary nanotechnology approaches.