Maria de la Merced Novo Rodriguez

Mercedes Novo Rodríguez is a Full Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), based at the Faculty of Sciences in Lugo. She holds a PhD in Chemical Sciences from USC, awarded the Extraordinary Doctoral Award (1991–1992). Her research focuses on fluorescence spectroscopy, supramolecular systems, and biomolecular recognition, particularly in Alzheimer’s disease mechanisms. She leads the Biophysical Chemistry, Spectroscopy, and Photochemistry research group and co-founded the Single Molecule Fluorescence Research Unit.

Education: BSc and PhD in Physical Chemistry from USC. Postdoctoral stays included prestigious institutions in Belgium, Germany, and Portugal. She also coordinates XuvenCiencia, a multidisciplinary outreach group promoting scientific education through workshops and science camps.

Research interests include amyloid aggregation dynamics, fluorescent markers for DNA and proteins, and applications of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). Her work bridges fundamental chemistry with biomedical applications, such as early Alzheimer’s diagnosis and CRISPR delivery systems. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles and holds competitive grants from national and EU sources.

Awards: Extraordinary Doctoral Award, leadership roles in EU COST actions, and coordination of XuvenCiencia’s successful outreach programs. Advises doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s students, with notable supervisee Sara Illodo (medical thesis, 2024). Collaborates internationally on projects like Nanofluidetec for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection and Alzheimer’s biomarker research.

Labs/Teams: Director of the Single Molecule Fluorescence Unit and part of USC’s Biophysical Chemistry group. Active in XuvenCiencia, organizing Spain’s largest youth science campus and educational kits.