Michelle Morataya-Reyes

My background is in biology and experimental toxicology. I trained and worked at the Group of Mutagenesis at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where my research focused on the genotoxic and carcinogenic potential of nanoplastics — specifically polystyrene and PET nanoparticles — on human lung cells. The work combined in vitro assays (comet assay, transcriptomic analysis, cytotoxicity testing) with long-term exposure protocols to assess how these particles behave over weeks of continuous cellular contact.

That kind of research trains you to think carefully about what an experiment can and cannot claim. It also makes you attentive to the standards of evidence that separate a finding from a speculation — a distinction that is surprisingly easy to blur in communication, and that has real consequences when the audience is a regulator, a clinician, or a patient.

At Iridis I lead science validation and research strategy. My work focuses on ensuring that the scientific claims behind a product, a publication, or a communication piece are defensible — traceable to primary evidence, appropriately qualified, and robust to scrutiny. I also contribute to grant applications and research proposals, particularly where rigorous experimental design needs to be communicated clearly to a non-specialist funding panel.

Areas of expertise

• Science validation and claim auditing
• Genotoxicology and toxicological risk assessment
• In vitro experimental design
• Grant writing and research proposals
• Environmental health and nanomaterials

Selected background

• Biology degree with specialisation in genetics and cell biology, UAB
• Research at Group of Mutagenesis, UAB — genotoxicity and carcinogenic potential of nanoplastics in human lung cells (PS and PET, acute and chronic exposure protocols)
• Co-author: Size-Dependent Effects of Polystyrene Nanoplastics on Human Primary Endothelial Cell Function