Dr. Marc Carnicer
Assistant Professor
Bioengineering Department, IQS.
marc.carnicer@iqs.url.edu
Bioprocess development.
Biosketch
Dr. Marc Carnicer Heras is Associate Professor in the Bioengineering Department at the Institut Quimic de Sarria (IQS), Universitat Ramon Llull. He joined IQS in 2015 and, since 2016, has been part of the Biological Chemistry and Biotechnology Group (GQBB), where he leads the Bioprocessing Unit. Since 2019, he has also served as Project Manager of the IQS Bioprocess Pilot Plant.
He graduated in Biochemistry from the Universitat de Barcelona in 2007 and obtained a master’s degree in advanced biotechnology from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in 2008. He completed his PhD in Biotechnology at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in 2012, receiving the PhD Extraordinary Award. His doctoral work focused on the impact of recombinant protein production on central carbon metabolism in Pichia pastoris, within the GENOPHYS European project.
From 2012 to 2015, Dr. Carnicer worked in Toulouse in the Integrated Metabolism and Dynamics of Metabolic Systems (METASYS) group led by Dr. Jean-Charles Portais. His postdoctoral research, framed within the PROMYSE European project, addressed the reutilization of methanol as an alternative carbon source in different microbial hosts.
At IQS, Dr. Carnicer has established research lines focused on alternative carbon sources for microbial production and on the optimization of recombinant protein and metabolite biosynthesis in bioreactor systems. His work integrates metabolic understanding with applied bioprocess engineering to develop efficient and scalable production platforms in microbial and microalgal hosts, including Escherichia coli, Pichia pastoris, Bacillus subtilis, Propionibacterium freudenreichii and, more recently, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in collaboration with Dr. Pablo Leivar.
He has contributed to national and European research projects on the upscaling of biotechnological production processes, including processes for chitooligosaccharides, vitamin B12, engineered proteins and bio-sourced crop protection compounds. His research activity has resulted in 17 peer-reviewed journal articles and an H-index of 13 (August 2026).
A defining element of Dr. Carnicer’s career is his role in the creation, design and strategic development of the IQS Bioprocess Pilot Plant, inaugurated in 2019. As Project Manager, he oversees the design, implementation and operation of pilot-scale fermentation processes up to 100 L, supporting academic research, external collaborations, research contracts and technology transfer.
Main Research areas
– Bioprocess development and scale-up for recombinant protein and metabolite production.
– Microbial production using alternative carbon sources, including methanol and acetic acid.
– Quantitative metabolomics and metabolic analysis of microbial cell factories.
– Bioprocess engineering in bacteria, yeast and microalgae, including Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
Publications (Google Scholar):
https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=UvyO_NYAAAAJ&hl=es