Dr Mercedes Vazquez

Academic biography

Dr. Mercedes Vázquez is Assistant Professor in Analytical Chemistry at the School of Chemical Sciences, Dublin City University (DCU), since 2014. She is also a Principal Investigator at the National Centre for Sensor Research (NCSR), the Advanced Processing Technology Research Centre (APT) and the Water Institute (WI), and a Funded Investigator at I-Form. She received her MSc in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Oviedo (Spain) in 1998. In 1999, she joined the Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry at Åbo Akademi University (Turku, Finland) as an ERASMUS exchange student, where she continued till obtaining her PhD from Åbo Akademi in 2005. During this period, she worked on the development of potentiometric ion sensors based on conducting polymers for various applications such as chemical process control and clinical analysis. In 2006, she took up a postdoctoral position within the Centre for Bioanalytical Sciences (CBAS) at DCU, where she primarily focused on the development of analytical methods and technologies for the rapid screening of very complex media in biopharmaceutical processes. She then joined the Irish Separation Science Cluster (ISSC), DCU, in 2009, where she coordinated a research program focused on the development of novel microfluidic platforms for a wide range of (bio)analytical applications, including biotechnology and environmental analysis.  


Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7aTT9KcAAAAJ&hl=en

Research interests

Miniaturisation and integration of analytical systems for environmental monitoring, point-of-care diagnostics and in-process quality controlMicrofluidics and Lab-on-a-CD devices for sample preparation, preconcentration and analysisFast prototyping methods such as 3D printingIntegration of particulate/monolithic stationary phases into microfluidic channelsMiniaturised electrochemical sensors (amperometric, potentiometric, conductimetric) and dual detection systemsLow-cost optical detection systemsFast separation methods by capillary HPLC and microchip electrophoresis