Please visit my official CV.

2000 PhD in astronomical instrumentation (adaptive optics)
2001-2013 Research in adaptive optics for astronomy
2013-now Professor of optics and research at HEIG-VD

Total number of entries in ADS (30-October-2024): 354; Citations 2827; H-index: 29
Total number of articles: 164; Citations 2788; H-index: 29
Peer-reviewed articles: 99 (4 Nature,1 Nature Astronomy); Citations 2827; H-index: 29
Peer-reviewed articles in Q1: 94; Citations 2797; H-index: 29
TFM supervised: 1 / Final year projects supervised: 1 / Thesis supervised: 2
Other indicators:
-6 Book chapters
-214 Contributions in international conferences, including 12 invited & 40 contributed talks
-Participation in 28 R&D&I projects funded in competitive calls by public bodies

I received my Ph.D. from IAA-CSIC/Granada University in 2009. During my Ph.D. I studied the physical properties of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), which are considered to be leftovers from the formation of the Solar System. These bodies are time capsules that have preserved information about the early Solar System and its evolution. After my Ph.D., I worked for two and a half years at the Paris Observatory (France) with a CNRS postdoctoral fellow in the framework of the Herschel Space Observatory's key program 'TNOs are Cool'. Within this program, I measured the thermal emission of 140 TNOs/Centaurs to obtain their physical/thermal properties: this project was a milestone in terms of the number of TNOs with thermal measurements. I was in charge of the Herschel/PACS photometry and thermal modeling. I have published 20 papers related to this project. In mid-2012 I returned to IAA-CSIC (Spain) with a postdoctoral contract to work on similar topics. In April 2016, I got a postdoctoral contract at IAA-CSIC within the EU H2020 project 'Small Bodies Near and Far' (SBNAF, Grant No. 687378). The main goal of this project was to address critical issues in reconstructing the physical and thermal properties of TNOs and asteroids by combining different techniques, including stellar occultations and thermal modeling. I participated in about 25 publications related to this project. From 2019 to January 2022, I was hired under my AYA2018-JIN project. The main goal of this project was to apply thermal models and stellar occultations to improve the physical knowledge of a sample of NEOs, MBAs, TNOs, and Centaurs. I have contributed to 26 publications directly related to this project. Since February 2022 I am a permanent researcher at IAA-CSIC. My main research interest is the characterization of the physical properties of TNOs/Centaurs using data from optical to thermal (from the ground and space-based facilities). To achieve this goal, I use various techniques such as thermal modeling, stellar occultations, photometry, etc. I am also interested in the physical properties of comets, NEOs, MBAs, and meteors/meteoroids. Since 2015, I am a member of the Lucky Star collaboration, which leads the study of TNOs and Centaurs through stellar occultations, within this collaboration I have participated in the discovery and characterization of three of the four rings known around TNOs and Centaurs. Since 2014, I lead the JWST (NASA/ESA) international focus discussion group called Occultations within the Solar System WG. I am the PI of an accepted proposal to observe stellar occultations by TNOs with JWST within Heidi Hammel's (AURA Vice President) Solar System Guaranteed Time Observations ( JWST GTO 1271 ). As part of this proposal, I detected for the first time a stellar occultation from JWST. The occultation was caused by the centaur Chariklo on October 18, 2022. I am a co-PI/collaborator on two other accepted JWST Cycle 1 proposals to obtain the physical properties of TNOs (I have also applied as PI for more JWST time in Cycle 2 to observe TNOs/Centaurs). I have been granted observation time at ALMA, SOFIA, NOEMA, and other observing facilities to obtain thermal data of TNOs/Centaurs. I am exploring the possibility of using SKA to characterize TNOs/Centaurs. Since November 2020 I am a member of the core team of the SKA WG 'Cradle of Life', I am the leader of the solar system field within this WG. Convener/organizer of TNO sessions at various international conferences. Supervisor of 1 undergraduate student, 1 graduate student, and 1 Ph.D. thesis (in progress). Reviewer for FNRA (ANR), STFC UK, AYA, and OPTICON. Reviewer for ApJ, AJ, and Ap&SS journals. Member of the Origins Space Telescope (OST) Solar System WG, IAU, AAS (DPS), EAS, and SEA. Awarded by CSIC for my research merits in 2012-2013, with the first 'SF2A-SEA' prize for the best French-Spanish joint scientific project in astronomy in 2013, and with the asteroid (9288) Santos-Sanz for my research merits in planetary science.