About me

Alicia L. Bruzos (born 29 March 1993) is a Spanish biologist and bioinformatician specialised in cancer genomics and marine contagious metastases. As a postdoctoral researcher, she is currently an MSCA fellow at Université de Caen Normandie (France) and she is a former postdoctoral researcher from The Francis Crick Institute and the University College of London (UK) in the laboratory of Mosaicism and Precision Medicine. She holds a PhD in Molecular Medicine from the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (Spain).

Her scientific career has focused on addressing key questions in cancer genomics and marine contagious metastases, resulting in publications in Nature, Nature Cancer, Nature Genetics, and Nature Communications among other journals. She has developed her career stages (PhD and two postdocs) in three different countries and completed research stays of 1–3 months at institutions in the USA, Ireland, Portugal, and South Korea. Collaborating internationally on all publications, she has been involved in the international Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) study, the ERC-funded Scuba Cancers project and she participates in projects from other countries, such as the FOVI project funded by the Chilean Government in 2024. → Check publication record

She began by analyzing retrotransposition patterns in human cancer genomes as part of the International Cancer Genome Consortium, contributing to two high-impact articles. In 2017, I secured FPI funding to pursue a PhD on marine transmissible cancers within the ERC-funded “Scuba Cancers” project. Her research uncovered significant findings, including the horizontal transfer of mitochondria, co-infection by multiple cancer lineages, and the discovery of a novel clam cancer spreading between species. These studies, based on over 7,000 analyzed specimens, gave her expertise in sampling, histopathology, molecular biology, and genomics. Evenmore, she established international collaborations (e.g., South Korea and USA) and independently secured 8,362€ in research travel funding.

During her first postdoctoral training in London, she expanded her knowledge to cancer translational research, studying genetic causes of mosaic skin disorders that lead to melanoma. She co-led the discovery of BRAF gene fusions in congenital melanocytic naevi, contributing to advances in targeted treatment with trametinib.

Seeking independence to develop her own research postdoctoral project, she secured a 2-year MSCA-cofund fellowship in 2023. This experience has not only strengthened her expertise in marine biology and cancer research but also enhanced her skills in funding acquisition, mentoring and project management. In addition to the 14,400€ from the MSCA, she secured 65,392.48€ in supplementary funding from various agencies and foundations, providing more support to achieve the project’s goals.

To date, she has supervised 2 BSc, 3 MSc, and 1 Erasmus students, gaining valuable experience in leadership and mentorship. She has accumulated 132.5 hours of teaching in five public universities, teaching genetics courses in degrees such as biology and medicine. She participates annually in 3–6 outreach events to promote science to society (→ See OUTREACH). As part of her institutional citizenship, she was a doctoral student representative during her PhD, she is active in several scientific societies, and she has served on three conference organizing committees (in Spain, the UK, and France). Moreover she is also actively involved in peer reviewing, with verified reviews on Publons. Lastly, she has received 16 awards in various categories, including science and outreach. Among these, the most notable is the “Jeunes Talents” Prize For Women in Science from Fondation L’Oréal and UNESCO, awarded in France in 2024.

In numbers, her scientific contributions position her with an h-index of 9, over 2,500 citations (Google Scholar), 9 JCR-indexed publications (7 in D1 and 2 in Q1), and 50 conference contributions, with 6 awards for best poster or oral communication. → See CV

W A N D E R L U S T - S O U L

Alicia is a curious mind who enjoys exploring the unknown and probably that’s why she chose science as a professional career and travelling as her favourite hobby. When she was young she set a goal: to visit as many foreign countries as years old she was and for the moment, she hasn’t failed. Alicia has travelled to 30+ countries on 4 continents, and worked in laboratories worldwide, from Belgium to the US to Ireland and even in South Korea, and she fluently speaks four languages. A travel junkie keen to combine science with her insights from around the world, Alicia has accomplished her involvement in projects and activities that merge these two such as Sea Women Expeditions. A fierce supporter of women who travel, Alicia did her first solo female backpack travel in 2016 and since then, she encourages anyone that hesitates on undertaking a solo trip. She’s also gone on hitchhiking trips and long-distance hiking routes, in fact, she undertook the way of Santiago twice and, every summer, she organizes a hiking weekend for a ~10 people group in which they sleep in the forest with no tent. However, she has forever been fascinated by the sea, she grew up in a coastal town and that’s why she can easily be found scuba diving, sailing, or just having a walk with her feet in the water. → Read autobiography

Alicia is grateful to all the women that fought for the rights that allow her to have the freedom of doing unthinkable things for women in the past such as being the Scientific Director of this patch mission expedition in 2022 and she feels tremendously lucky to have a feminist mother that showed her that a woman can do whatever she wants. In fact, family and friends play an important role in Alicia’s life, and her dog Murphy keeps her running towards her goals with its adventurous spirit and zest for life.

Alicia’s future plans include exploration of cancer in marine animals and helping to break the ceiling glass in science. The sea hides many secrets and one day she dreams to open a laboratory to help humanity discover the well-kept secrets of cancer that marine species (much older than us) might tell us.

Personal interests: Photography - Travelling - Movies - Tea - Graphical Design - Surf & Dive - Music - Science - Cultural Exchange - Nature - Gastronomy - Hiking