Helena Ostolaza

Helena Ostolaza studies the protein-membrane interactions, particularly the action mechanism of virulence factors (protein toxins) secreted by pathogenic bacteria on the host cell plasma membrane. Currently, she studies how the properties of biological membranes affect the infectivity of the adenylate cyclase toxin, one of the main factors in whooping cough disease. Helena got an undergraduate degree (1987) with Extraordinary Prize, and a PhD in Biochemistry (1992) at the University of the Basque Country (UPV / EHU). She has been a lecturer and then an Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Science and Technology since 1999. Academic Secretary of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department during the period 2004-2014.

Helena has supervised various PhD theses during her career and participated in 50+ research projects, published in journals like PNAS, Scientific Reports, Toxins. Helena acts as an evaluator for international research journals and several state research agencies (ANR, FonCyT, CZAC).