Laura Espina

Dr. Laura Espina is a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the Walsh Lab within the Ineos Oxford Institute at the University of Oxford. Her work focuses on antimicrobial discovery and development, particularly leveraging innovative strategies to cultivate previously uncultured bacteria and design end-to-end solutions for novel antimicrobial discovery. She holds a BSc in Veterinary Medicine from Spain, followed by a Master’s and PhD in antimicrobial research targeting foodborne pathogens. Her research includes collaborations with industry and academia, such as a machine learning application for bacterial growth monitoring and a high-throughput screening platform for antimicrobials. She is also part of a European consortium advancing preclinical antibiotic development.

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Veterinary Medicine (Spain)
• Master’s Degree in Antimicrobial Research
• PhD on Antimicrobial Strategies Against Foodborne Pathogens

Research Interests: Laura’s work integrates microbiology, biotechnology, and computational tools to address antimicrobial resistance. Key areas include bacterial cultivation innovations, high-throughput screening methodologies, and translational applications of machine learning in microbiology. Her contributions bridge applied research with industrial collaboration to accelerate antibiotic discovery pipelines.

Grants and Collaborations: Engaged in cross-sectoral collaborations, including a European consortium for preclinical antibiotic development. Her postdoctoral project combined academic and industry expertise to design scalable solutions for novel antimicrobial identification.

Labs/Teams: Walsh Lab (Ineos Oxford Institute), European antibiotic development consortium.