Mora Gutiérrez, Azucena

She holds a PhD in Veterinary Medicine and received the Extraordinary Doctoral Thesis Award from USC (University of Galicia) as well as the SYVA Award for the Best Thesis in Animal Health (2002). She was a researcher in the Ramón y Cajal National Talent Attraction Programme (2007–2012).

She is currently Professor of Microbiology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Lugo and Scientific Director of the Biomedical and Veterinary Research Centre (CEBIOVET). She is also a corresponding national academic elected by the Galician Academy of Veterinary Sciences for the field of animal health. She is a member of the E. coli Reference Laboratory (LREC), included in the EU-NRL for VTEC in Food, and a member of the Institute for Aquatic Environment Research for Global Health (iARCUS). She has served on the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) since 2023 and collaborates with the National Antibiotic Resistance Plan of the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS). She is Education Officer of the Food- and Waterborne Infections Study Group (EFWISG) of ESCMID (2024–2026).

With over 25 years of experience in pathogenic E. coli affecting humans and animals, she has led eight national and regional projects as principal investigator, supervised numerous doctoral theses, and authored over 100 scientific publications (H-index = 49; WOS), one of which was awarded the PRAN II Edition 2018 Prize. Her research focuses on antibiotic resistance from a “One Health” perspective; her current research line, “Integrated monitoring of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) flow and intervention targets from the environment to the farm and the table”, received the PRAN 2024 award in the category “Best Research Initiative on Antibiotic Resistance”.

Dr Mora leads the Diagnostic and Advisory Service related to microbiological techniques for the genotyping of pathogenic E. coli strains.