Lourdes Marcano Prieto was born in 1991 in Bilbao, Spain. She received her BSc degree in Physics from the University of Oviedo in 2013 and her MSc degree in New Materials from the University of the Basque Country in 2014. She developed her PhD studies about “Magnetic and structural characterization of magnetite nanoparticles synthesized by magnetotactic bacteria” under the supervision of Prof. Maria Luisa Fdez-Gubieda and Dr. Ana García Prieto at the Department of Electricity and Electronics of the University of the Basque Country. She completed her PhD the 29th October 2018 with the highest distinction of cum laude. In 2019 she moved to the synchrotron radiation facility BESSY II in Berlin, Germany, where she has been working as a postdocfellow supported by the Basque Government until January 2021. In January 2021 Dr. Marcano returns to the University of the Basque Country where she continues with her postdoctoral research.

She is a common user of European synchrotron and neutron facilities, having headed and participated in 25 experiments in the last years. Lourdes is actively involved in scientific dissemination activities and projects enhancing the visibility of women in science. Among other distinctions, L. Marcano is recipient of the Best Student Presentation Award, supported by EVICO magnetics, of the 21st international Conference on Magnetism (2018) and her PhD thesis was recognized as one of the three best thesis based on synchrotron-related techniques during 2018-2019 by the Asociación de Usuarios de Sincrotrón España (AUSE).

Her current research interests are nanomagnetism of non-conventional nanoparticles for their use in biomedical applications and the employment of large facility -synchrotrons and neutron sources- for structural and magnetic characterization of magnetic nanostructures.