Dr Alfonso Prado Cabrero is a Senior Scientist at the Macular Pigment Research Group (MPRG), with over 9 years of research experience in the field of carotenoids and 12 yeas of experience in research on Molecular and Human Genetics. He is currently managing a project funded by the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund Programme focused in developing new biotechnology to produce natural carotenoids and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids at the commercial level. Alfonso received his BSc Degree in Biochemistry from University of Navarra (Spain) in 1999. Then he joined the department of Genetics of University of Seville to work on the description of genes involved in carotenoid biosynthesis in the fungus Fusarium. During this period he was awarded with an EMBO short term fellowship in 2005 to complete his research at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Freiburg (Germany). After graduating in 2006 (Honours), he worked for three years in the Unit of Immunology of Hospital de la Princesa (Madrid, Spain) to investigate the effect of hypoxia on lipid catabolism in the heart. Then he was awarded with a Juan de la Cierva Fellowship from the Spanish Government to join the department of Molecular Biology of Cancer at IIB (CSIC, Madrid), where he investigated the involvement of Ephrin-A3 on metastasis progression. In 2013 he joined the Centre for Desert Agriculture of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST, Saudi Arabia) as Research Scientist. There he developed his research on the biosynthesis of the carotenoid derived plant hormones Strigolactones and Abscisic acid. In 2014 he was awarded the Howard Fellowship at the Macular Pigment Research Group, to work on the origin of the macular carotenoid meso-zeaxanthin.

Rafael was born in Barcelona in 1985, he studied Marine Sciences at the University of Cádiz, obtaining a background as oceanographer and marine biologist. Afterwards, he completed a Masters in Industrial Biotechnology at the University of Almeria,  where he specialized in microorganism bioengineering and bioprocessing.

During his bachelor degree and thanks to a Seneca grant he worked in the L’Oceanografic de Valencia as a marine biologist.  In 2011 he completed a Masters thesis at PharmaMar biopharmaceutical company (Madrid) about the development of antitumoral compounds from marine actinobacteria.

In 2012 Rafa started working in The Netherlands with a Leonardo Da Vinci grant  at FeyeCon CO2 technologies, in a FP7 project call “All-Gas” (biodiesel from microalgae grown in wastewater). Since then he has been working for C2circle as a biotechnologist in the bioenergy and green chemicals group.