Magdalena Faijes Simona

Magdalena Faijes Simona is an Associate Professor in the Bioengineering Department at IQS School of Engineering, Universitat Ramon Llull. She leads the Grup de Química Biològica i Biotecnologia and focuses on enzyme engineering, carbohydrate metabolism, and glycoscience applications in biocatalysis and immunology.

Research Trends: Recent publications (2021–2023) demonstrate expertise in

• designing glycoengineered nanoparticles for vaccine targeting
• characterizing bacterial glycolipid synthases
• elucidating enzymatic hydrolysis mechanisms in bifidobacteria
• improving glycosynthase activity through mutagenesis
• synthesizing defined oligosaccharides for immunological applications

Her work bridges structural biology, biocatalysis, and biomedical materials.

Grants & Collaborations: Current projects include

• GLYCOENGIN (2023–2026): Engineering glycoenzymes for biocatalysis
• Influència dels processos de fermentació (2024): Studying fermentation impacts on Guatemalan coffee quality
• paCOSVALOR (2022–2024): Biotecnological production of chitosan oligosaccharides
• GQBB Group (2022–2025): Coordinated research in biological chemistry
• Pre-ETN-GLYCO (2020–2022): European training network for microbial glycan interactions

She collaborates with institutions like AGAUR and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.