MICHAL
LETEK POLBERG

Michal Letek is a Profesor Titular de Universidad at the University of León since 2023. He obtained his BSc (Hons) in 2002 and his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in 2007. During his early career, he was a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford (2004), University of Texas (2005), and University of Lund (2006). He subsequently held postdoctoral positions at the University of Bristol (2007), the University of Edinburgh (2009), and the Centro de Investigación del Cáncer in Salamanca (2009–2013), supported by competitive fellowships including FPU, Wellcome Trust, JAE-Doc, Juan de la Cierva, and Beatriz Galindo. He later served as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at the University of Roehampton (2013–2019), and as Distinguished Researcher at the University of León (2019–2023). He has an H-index of 28 and more than 50 research outputs, primarily in Q1/D1 journals such as Nature Communications, EMBO Journal, PLOS Genetics, Molecular Microbiology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, and Journal of Bacteriology. He has been awarded three consecutive six-year research periods (sexenios; 2003–2020) by the Spanish National Commission for the Evaluation of Research Activity (CNEAI). He serves on the editorial boards of Antibiotics, Microbiology Research, Frontiers in Microbiology, and Frontiers for Young Minds, and regularly acts as a reviewer for major funding agencies including BBSRC, MRC, AEI, and the Latvian Council of Science. Since 2022, he leads the recognized research group GIR-481 BIOACTINOTEC and the consolidated research unit UIC-352. His research is centered on understanding and therapeutically targeting intracellular bacterial pathogens, with the aim of identifying vulnerabilities in both pathogen and host that can be exploited to develop anti-infective strategies beyond conventional antibiotics. His early work focused on bacterial cell biology, particularly cytokinesis and cell wall synthesis in Actinobacteria, establishing essential processes as potential antimicrobial targets. This mechanistic approach evolved towards the study of virulence, including functional genomic analyses of Rhodococcus equi, which enabled the reconstruction of regulatory networks and the identification of key determinants of intracellular survival in macrophages. His current research program integrates bacterial physiology with host–pathogen interactions. He investigates redox biology as a central mechanism governing intracellular survival in Actinobacteria and explores host molecular pathways that modulate infection. In parallel, he uses Staphylococcus aureus as a model of intracellular persistence to identify host-directed therapeutic targets and determinants of susceptibility. Overall, his work combines molecular microbiology, functional genomics, and host-directed approaches to develop innovative strategies against multidrug-resistant intracellular pathogens, with translational applications in infectious diseases and oncology. He has extensive teaching experience in Biomedicine, Biology, and Biotechnology at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the Universities of León, Edinburgh, and Roehampton. He has been a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2014 and an accredited Ph.D. supervisor since 2015. He has supervised three doctoral theses and more than 50 undergraduate and Master’s dissertations. He currently serves as Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of León, contributing to academic planning, quality assurance, and the strategic development of teaching and research programs.