Dr. Rovira is ICREA Research Professor at the University of Barcelona (UB). She did part of her PhD in USA (NC State U. and Southern Illinois U.) and obtained her PhD degree in Chemistry from the UB in 1995. She performed postdoctoral stays at the Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung (Stuttgart, Germany, 1996-1998) and the UB (1999-2001). In 2002 she obtained a Ramón y Cajal position and started her research group at the Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB). She was appointed ICREA Research Professor in 2007. Dr. Rovira has received research awards from the Catalan Government (Distinció de la Generalitat 2003), the Barcelona City Council (City Prize 2016) and the European Carbohydrate Organization (Emil Fisher Award 2019). She received an ERC SyG Grant in 2020. She is also elected member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona (2024). Rovira has authored more than 200 publications, primarily in the fields of Theoretical Chemistry and Computational Biology.
Research interests
The research at Dr. Rovira's group is focused on the computer simulation of biological processes at atomic-electronic detail, i.e. using computers to understand how biomolecules work. Her goal is to simulate the molecular mechanisms underlying ligand-protein interactions and enzymatic reactions, guiding the design of more efficient enzymes and drugs. Her research is currently focused on unveiling chemical reactions in glycoprocessing enzymes for biomedical and biotechnological applications.
Selected publications
- Maleeva G, Nin-Hill A, Wirth U, Rustler K, Ranucci M, Opar E, Rovira C, Bregestovski P, Zeilhofer HU, König B, Alfonso-Prieto M & Gorostiza P 2024, 'Light-Activated Agonist-Potentiator of GABAA Receptors for Reversible Neuroinhibition in Wildtype Mice', Journal of the American Chemical Society, 146:28822.
- Narimatsu Y Büll C Taleb V Liao QH Compañón I Sánchez-Navarro D Durbesson F Vincentelli R Hansen L Corzana F Rovira C Henrissat B Clausen H Joshi HJ & Hurtado-Guerrero R 2024, 'A family of di-glutamate maucin-degrading enzymes that bridges glycan hydrolases and peptidades', Nature Catalysis, 7 - 386-400.
- Artola M Aerts JMFG van der Marel GA Rovira C Codée JDC Davies GJ Overkleeft HS, 2024, 'From Mechanims-Based Retaining Glycosidase Inhibitors to Activity-Based Glycosidase Profiling', Journal of the American Chemical Society', 146 - 36 - 24729 - 24741
- Liu Y, Bineva-Todd G, Meek RW, Mazo L, Piniello B, Moroz O, Burnap SA, Begum N, Ohara A, Roustan C, Tomita S, Kjaer S, Polizzi K, Struwe WB, Rovira C, Davies GJ & Schumann B 2024, 'A Bioorthogonal Precision Tool for Human N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase V', Journal of the american chemical society, 146 - 39 - 26707 - 26718.
- Wallace MD & Rovira C et al 2024, 'Constrained Catalytic Itinerary of a Retaining 3,6-Anhydro-D-Galactosidase, a Key Enzyme in Red Algal Cell Wall Degradation', Angewandte chemie-international edition, 63 - 43 -e202411171.
- Armand M & Rovira C et al 2024, 'Glycosylium Ions in Superacid Mimic the Transition State of Enzyme Reactions', Journal of the american chemical society. 146, 28822−28831.
Selected research activities
- Invited talks at JNCASR - CECAM (India), ESPA (Spain), Bratislava Saccharides Symp. (Slovakia, plenary talk), EuChemS (on-line) and ChembioVII (Sevilla, plenary talk)
- New grants PID2023-147939NB-I00 and HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN-01-01.
- Elected member of the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences of Barcelona.
- Two PhD students and and two Msc students defended their theses in my group.