Francisco Mestres Naval

Francisco Mestres Naval is a full professor at the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics at the Universitat de Barcelona. He has coordinated the Doctoral Program in Genetics (2009–2014, 2020–2022) and the Master's in Genetics and Genomics (2017–2019), earning Excellence recognitions (MEE2011-0321). His research focuses on evolutionary genetics, population dynamics of Drosophila subobscura, and marine biodiversity, particularly in Liocarcinus depurator. He leads the Marine Biodiversity and Evolution (MBE) research group.

Education:

• Biology (Licenciatura), Universitat de Barcelona, 1982
• PhD in Biology, Universitat de Barcelona, 1988
• Certificado de Aptitud Pedagógica, Universitat Politècnica de Barcelona, 1984
• Specialized training in Scientific Programming and Analysis, 1981–1982

Research Interests:His work integrates experimental and bioinformatics approaches to study evolutionary processes. Key themes include:

• Genetic mechanisms underlying colonization in D. subobscura
• Chromosomal inversion polymorphisms and their adaptive roles
• Population connectivity in marine organisms like Liocarcinus depurator
• Genetic forensic analysis of microsatellites

Grants & Projects:

• "Biodiversidad marina y genómica: de las poblaciones a las comunidades" (2018–2020), Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad (IP: Marta Pascual)
• "Abordando retos en investigación marina con herramientas genéticas" (2014–2017), AGAUR (IP: Javier Romero)

Labs/Teams:He leads the Marine Biodiversity and Evolution Group, collaborating on projects at the Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat and with international societies like the European Society for Evolutionary Biology.