Meet the team
Beyond the science at DIVERSA
Our story
DIVERSA is a biotechnology spin-off from the Santiago de Compostela Health Research Institute and the Galician Health Service
Working with pharma and biotech companies, we identified a common need for delivery solutions in drug development. Overcoming biological barriers is a crucial step to produce efficient pharmaceutical products. Our formulations make this happen.
Our team
Experts in drug delivery, from research to business
María de la Fuente
María de la Fuente, co-founder and CEO/CSO of DIVERSA, has a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical technology, nanotechnology, and drug administration from the University of Santiago de Compostela. In addition, she has training in management, direction, and entrepreneurship, highlighting his participation in the Senior Management Program of Research, Innovation and Technology Transfer Institutions of the University of Navarra (IESE), the program in Business Leadership Development and Team Management from ESADE (Ramon Llull University), and the Caixaimpulse program, taught by the Barcelona School of Management, for knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship. She has completed an Executive MBA (Galicia Business School). She has also participated in Bootcamps such as Oncostars and PANACEA in Oxford and received additional training in programs from the Xunta de Galicia (GAIN -Oxentia- and ACIS), as well as other Europeans (EIT Health). Her previous activity in technology transfer is related to the license to Advancell SL of several patents, being co-inventor of them, and to the participation in knowledge transfer during her stay in the SOP-UCL. Concerning her professional experience, María is the head of the Nano-Oncology and Translational Therapeutics group at the Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Clinical University Hospital, and has experience in leadership, teamwork, and resource management. From her professional independence as Principal Investigator, she has raised more than 4.5M€ of public and private funds in competitive calls, of which 0.6M€ have been specific for technology transfer.
Abi Vázquez
Abi Vázquez, co-founder and COO of DIVERSA, has a degree in biology, a master’s degree in Biomedical Research, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine from the University of Santiago de Compostela. Her doctoral thesis focused on providing solutions to face one of the biggest current challenges in oncology, the metastases, and moving towards the concept of personalized medicine. She also has training in technology transfer through her participation in various courses and workshops at renowned business schools such as the CaixaImpulse Validate Program (Barcelona School of Management). Abi has been fully involved from the conception of the project to the establishment of the company. She has participated in the development of the technology, the standardization of procedures, elaboration and validation of the business model, and selection and interaction with strategic partners.
Rafael López
Rafael López, medical advisor and the third co-founder of DIVERSA, is head of the Medical Oncology Service of the Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela (CHUS) and professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), as well as head of the research group of the IDIS of Translational Medical Oncology (ONCOMET). He participates in international and national projects as principal investigator and belongs to different groups and consortia. He is responsible for the CHUS Clinical Trials Unit, with more than 100 projects currently underway. Furthermore, he has been involved in more than 25 competitive projects in the last five years, and as a result, he is a co-inventor of 6 patents. He is a co-founder of the spin-off NasasBiotech SL.
Javier Pegito
Javier Pegito graduated in Business Administration at Universidade de Santiago de Compostela in 2016. After a professional experience as Purchasing Manager, handling a >3.5M€ budget, he decided to improve his management skills studying an MBA. As a professional, he has a commercial back-ground thanks to his international experience in Belgium, when he performed as a Deputy to the Sales Manager, and his experience in retail, leading a sales team of 15 people. More recently, he has had the opportunity to manage the administration end of several companies (national and international) thanks to his experience as a Deputy to the CEO.
Juliane Núñez
Juliane graduated in biology from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), completed a lato sensu postgraduate degree in environmental sciences from the Estácio de Sá University (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and a master’s degree in Advanced Biotechnology from the University of A Coruña (La Coruña, Spain), being recognized by the Xunta de Galicia as a Master of Excellence. For the realization of this master she was awarded with the BEME scholarship (Bolsa de Excelencia a Mocidade Exterior). During her master’s degree, she developed a great interest in the pharmaceutical area, especially in the use of nanotechnology as drug delivery systems. Thus, her master’s thesis was based on the elaboration of a nanoemulsion conjugated with an antineoplastic drug, the evaluation of the encapsulation by the HPLC-UV technique and its in vitro efficacy in lung adenocarcinoma cells, this work resulted in a with honors.
