Laura Lechuga

She was born in Seville, capital of Andalusia, in 1962. Whilst she was at high school she became interested in molecular biology.[1] She eventually studied chemistry at university, Universidad de Cádiz (Andalusia), where she was inspired to pursue a career in research.[1] Lechuga completed her doctoral research at the Complutense University of Madrid. After earning her PhD in 1992, Lechuga was appointed to the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology.[1]

When Lechuga returned to Spain in 1995, she was appointed head of the biosensor group at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).[2][3] In 2008 she joined the faculty at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2).[1] In 2012 was appointed an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tromsø, and in 2013 a visiting professor at the University of Campinas.[4]

Lechuga develops silicon based biosensors which can be integrated into a lab-on-a-chip platform.[5] She has developed different types of sensors, including; photonic Biosensors,[6] Mach–Zehnder interferometers, opto-nano-mechanical sensors and magnetoplasmonic sensors.[4] She looks to apply these sensors in clinical settings,[7] for the diagnosis of cancer[8] and other diseases, as well as environmental monitoring.[9][10] In 2018 she demonstrated an interferometry-based point-of-care device for the fast and sensitive quantification of Escherichia coli.[11] The device contained microarrays printed onto high performance nanoplasmonic substrates, and could even be performed by non-expert personnel.[11][12]

During the COVID-19 pandemic Lechuga developed a simple, low-cost and fast COVID-19 testing system.[13] Her proposal came out of a rapid grant scheme that the European Commission established at the end of January 2020 in an effort to tackle the emerging pandemic.[14] Lechuga developed the idea within ten days, making use of her experience building optical biosensors.[11] The test is based on a nanoscale optical sensor and includes a receptor protein (antibody) that is capable of detecting the coronavirus.[15][16] The sensor itself consists of a waveguide interferometer.[17] It makes use of sample of saliva or sputum to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2.[18] If the saliva contains SARS-CoV-2, it will bind to the antibodies, and, in turn, change the transmission of a beam of light passing through the optical sensor.[19] Once the light has been analysed the resulted will be transmitted to a smart phone or tablet, in a process that takes less than 30 minutes.[19] Complimentary DNA probes will identify the viral RNA without the need for Polymerase chain reaction (PCR).[17]

• 2014 Elected a Fellow of The Optical Society[1]
• 2016 Real Sociedad Española de Física (RSEF) – BBVA Physics, Innovation and Technology Award[20][21]
• 2017 Inducted into AcademiaNet: The Portal to Excellent Women Academics[22]

• Sepúlveda, Borja; Angelomé, Paula C.; Lechuga, Laura M.; Liz-Marzán, Luis M. (2009). "LSPR-based nanobiosensors". Nano Today. 4 (3): 244–251. doi:10.1016/j.nantod.2009.04.001. ISSN 1748-0132.
• Estevez, M.C.; Alvarez, M.; Lechuga, L.M. (26 September 2011). "Integrated optical devices for lab-on-a-chip biosensing applications". Laser & Photonics Reviews. 6 (4): 463–487. doi:10.1002/lpor.201100025. hdl:10261/51022. ISSN 1863-8880.
• Prieto, F; Sepúlveda, B; Calle, A; Llobera, A; Domínguez, C; Abad, A; Montoya, A; Lechuga, L M (2 July 2003). "An integrated optical interferometric nanodevice based on silicon technology for biosensor applications". Nanotechnology. 14 (8): 907–912. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/14/8/312. ISSN 0957-4484.