María Castro Puyana

María Castro Puyana is a Full Professor at the University of Alcalá's Faculty of Sciences, where she serves as 4th Vice-Dean and Assistant Dean of Chemistry. She leads research in the Department of Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, specializing in advanced separation techniques.

Her research group, Técnicas de (Micro)Separación, focuses on:

• Chiral analysis and enantiomeric separation
• Metabolomics for biomarker discovery in biological systems
• Sustainable analytical methods for food/pharmaceutical samples
• Proteomics and agri-food waste valorization

Recent publications emphasize capillary electrophoresis and mass spectrometry applications in:

• Enantioseparation optimization using ionic liquids
• Metabolomic studies of cellular responses
• Green extraction of bioactive compounds
• Environmental pollutant analysis

She has supervised PhD students including Maider Greño Ocariz (2022). Current projects include metabolomic investigations of inflammatory cytokines (2022-2024) and analytical equipment acquisition grants.