Postdoc experience - Antwerp University Hospital

My first postdoctoral experience was at the Department of Ophthalmology in the Antwerp University Hospital (UZA), in Antwerp, Belgium. I was a member of Volantis group, led by prof Jos J Rozema, from February 2017 to September 2018. Working in a hospital was a new and enriching experience to me. During this short time span I published six first-author journal papers in different peer-reviewed international journals (for details check publications).

While working in UZA I participated in the team research ‘Estimating keratoconus progression using biometric and biomechanical parameters to adjust treatment protocols for corneal crosslinking’. This is, finding ways to better diagnose and estimate the progression of keratoconus, an ocular disease that progressively deforms the cornea (the outer lens of the eye) and consequently compromises vision. My main role in this project was to assist with data collection and give a hand to my colleague Ikram Issarti during her first steps in the intricate adventure of the PhD. This was my first mentoring experience and I must say that besides Ikram and I coming from different cultures and scientific backgrounds (she is a Moroccan mathematician while I’m a Spanish physicist) I enjoyed the experience a lot, I learnt a lot from her and I hope new mentoring opportunities will arise in the near future. On the top of the main project that brought me to Belgium, I also had the opportunity to develop my own research line on scleral shape and contact lens wear in collaboration with Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (Poland) and Aston University (UK) thanks to the PRELUDIUM grant I was awarded as principal investigator by the polish National Science Centre.

In the picture, colleagues I worked with during a small farewell surprise party they organized for me.

UZA colleagues. From left to right: Joséphine Behaegel, me, Jos J Rozema, Ikram Issarti and Sorcha Ní Dhubhghaill

Ikram and I