Alejandro Brun

Dr. Alejandro Brun Torres is a staff researcher at the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), the main Spanish government body devoted to agriculture research and technology. Alejandro Brun holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid. He began the specialty studies in the Department of Animal Virology of INIA (1989-1991) and in the laboratory of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (1991-1993) in the identification and molecular characterization of immunogenic proteins of African swine fever virus (ASFV). In 1994 he joined the Animal Health Research Center (CISA) of Valdeolmos completing studies on the modulation of apoptosis mediated by specific genes of ASFV. In 1998, as a contracted researcher associated with the EU-FAIR project CT97-3306, he became part of the research group on prions and spongiform encephalopathies contributing to the establishment of a completely new research line at CISA. In February 2002, as a “Ramón y Cajal” program researcher and, since 2004, as a staff scientist of INIA, he began the development of new research projects related to emerging and re-emerging viral diseases. Since then, he coordinates the CISA bunyavirus research group, working on the development of diagnostic techniques (some commercialized) and the control of the Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) looking for vaccine strategies with application in animals and man.