After earning my Biochemistry degree at the University of Córdoba (UCO) in Spain, I completed my Master's thesis at Stockholm University in Sweden. I obtained my PhD from UCO in 2010, focusing on the C/N balance in marine cyanobacteria. Following this, I conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Freiburg in Germany and spent nearly five years at the Kerfeld lab, first at Michigan State University and later at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 2017, I was awarded the prestigious Global Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship for an interdisciplinary research program that combined my expertise in marine cyanobacteria with structural biology and biophysical methodologies. This research focused on how cyanobacteria balance light harvesting and photoprotection, protecting themselves from toxic overabsorption of light energy. Notably, I, together with an incredible team, elucidated the structure of a cyanobacterial phycobilisome in both light-harvesting and photoprotective states, marking a significant breakthrough in the field. I have chaired the International Gordon Research Seminar on Photosensory Receptors and Signal Transduction (2022, Ventura, USA) and received several honors, including the I3 certificate (2023), Ramón y Cajal Grant (2022), and Profesora María Teresa Miras Award. Currently, I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UCO and the principal investigator of the Cyano-Light research group. Our work focuses on light perception, photosynthesis, and photoprotection mechanisms in cyanobacteria, exploring their potential applications.