Dr. Raquel Fernández García is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutics and Food Technology at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where her group focuses on innovative drug delivery systems for infectious diseases. Her research specialises in developing targeted therapeutic solutions for antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, with particular interest in pulmonary drug delivery.
Dr. Fernández García graduated with a Master’s in Pharmacy (MPharm) from Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2016, followed by doctoral studies completed in 2020 with first-class distinction. Her PhD thesis centred on topical and oral formulations containing amphotericin B, addressing critical challenges in antifungal drug delivery.
From 2020 to 2025, she served as postdoctoral research associated at the University of Nottingham under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Aylott, expanding her expertise in nanotechnology applications. During this period, she collaborated with the Future Targeted Healthcare Manufacturing Hub at University College London, gaining valuable insights into industrial scale-up and regulatory considerations for pharmaceutical development.
Her research had resulted in substantial publications (>15) in high-impact pharmaceutical journals, addressing clinical challenges in antimicrobial therapy, including novel formulations for systemic fungal infections, dry powder inhaler systems and personalised medicine approaches. Key contributions include targeted oral combination products for visceral leishmaniasis, innovative pulmonary systems and comprehensive studies on amphotericin B properties.
Currently, Dr. Fernández García serves as principal investigator on projects involving clinical collaborations with Fundación para la Investigación Biomédica Hospital La Paz.
Targeted pharmaceutical strategies for Fusobacterium nucleatum-associated respiratory infections
Fusobacterium nucleatum is a common oral symbiotic flora that has also been found in the respiratory, digestive and genitourinary tracts. This has led to various disorders, including pulmonary infections, and has been associated with other diseases, such as colorectal adenocarcinoma, inflammatory bowel disease, adverse pregnancy outcomes and endometriosis.
Regarding respiratory infections, F. nucleatum is an anaerobic Gram-negative bacterium that has been described as causing pneumonia, lung abscesses and empyema, and has traditionally been treated with clindamycin. Clindamycin is a lincosamine antibiotic effective against aerobic Gram-positive cocci and anaerobic Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria. This drug is highly soluble in water in its hydrochloride or phosphate salt form due to its zwitterionic structure, which makes it suitable for oral administration. Moreover, clindamycin has been commercialised in formulations for intravenous or topical delivery.
However, despite its high efficacy, the use of clindamycin can cause an overgrowth of Clostridioides difficile, which is normally present in small amounts in the gut and is inherently resistant to clindamycin. This can lead to pseudomembranous colitis, which is potentially lethal, due to a toxin produced by C. difficile, causing diarrhoea and toxic megacolon. Because of this, a systemic administration of clindamycin may not be ideal for treating respiratory infections and the development of a pulmonary formulation to treat these conditions could allow a targeted lung therapy requiring lower doses to be efficacious while minimising adverse effect.
The aim of this project is to develop clindamycin-loaded microparticles to treat F. nucleatum-associated respiratory infections through pulmonary administration using dry powder inhalers. Spray drying will be used to tune particle size and surface characteristics. Targeting clindamycin to the lungs, clinical challenges associated with the administration of oral and systemic clindamycin will be addressed.
This research will encompass a quality by design approach of clindamycin-loaded microparticles followed by an extensive physicochemical characterisation including particle size, solid-state characterisation and surface analysis), aerodynamic performance as well as optimisation of in vitro antimicrobial efficacy testing against F. nucleatum and biocompatibility against Calu-2 cells
I have recently been appointed as an Assistant Professor in Pharmaceutics at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). My academic journey began with a PhD focused on developing and characterising topical and oral formulations containing amphotericin B for treating mycoses and leishmaniasis. This foundational research was followed by a 4-year postdoctoral project that uniquely positioned me at the intersection of nanomedicine and agricultural biotechnology.
During my postdoctoral work, I simultaneously developed a keen interest in pulmonary drug delivery while supervising a PhD student whose project focused on treating pulmonary aspergillosis using spray-dried antifungal microparticulate formulations. This experience not only broadened my research perspective, but also solidified my expertise in advanced pharmaceutical delivery mechanisms, particularly in respiratory drug formulation strategies.
I plan to leverage this career development award to establish my independent research trajectory, with crucial support from Prof. Dolores R. Serrano, who has been instrumental in endorsing my application. In my current role, I propose to pioneer a novel research line focused on targeting clindamycin delivery to the lung to treat infections caused by F. nucleatum. This research represents an unrevealed domain within my current institution and addresses an unmet critical need to treat localised infections in the lung while minimising adverse effects in other body parts.
My proposed research builds directly upon my multidisciplinary background in pharmaceutical formulation and targeted drug delivery. The comprehensive skill set I have developed, ranging from amphotericin B formulation to spray-drying techniques and nanomedicine applications, provides a robust foundation for investigating the complexity of F. nucleatum and developing innovative pharmaceutical strategies.
The career development award represents a transformative opportunity to transition to independent investigator by establishing this pioneering research line at UCM. This award would allow me to develop cutting-edge pharmaceutical research being able to tune microparticle surface and size characteristics to enhance lung targeting as well as to expand the understanding of how to deal with F. nucleatum infections in the lung going beyond the state of the art and demonstrating my capacity for independent and impactful research and position myself as an emerging leader in pharmaceutical research.
Based upon my pre- and post-doctoral training at different research centres and the institutional support provided at UCM, allowing me to use essential equipment required for this project, I am prepared to drive this research and I am confident in my ability to successfully achieved all research milestones within the one-year timeline, thereby laying a critical foundation for my career development.
This career development award is not merely a research grant, but a pivotal moment in my scientific career as I just started as an academic in January 2025, giving me the opportunity to translate my interdisciplinary experience into meaningful pharmaceutical innovation that has the potential to address significant clinical challenges.