Belén Borrego got her PhD in 1993 at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain). Her Thesis work, directed by Dr. Esteban Domingo at Centro de Biología Molecular “Severo Ochoa” (Madrid, Spain) was focused on the variation of the main antigenic site of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus, FMDV (site A on the VP1), on two points:  immunogenicity of synthetic peptides vaccines based on this site, and viral evolution in quasispecies populations subjected to immune pressure. After some post-doc stays on i) molecular evolution (at Max-Planck-Institut in Göttingen, Germany), and ii) poxvirus as vaccine vectors (at CISA-INIA, Valdeolmos, Spain), she joined the group of Dr. Emiliana Brocchi at the National Reference Center for Vesicular Diseases at Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale IZSLER, Brescia, in Italy. The group worked on the antigenic characterization of different viruses relevant for Animal Health, including Swine Vesicular Disease Virus,  FMDV, and also fish viruses such as Piscine Nodaviruses . By selecting and characterizing MAR-(Monoclonal Antibodies Resistant)-Mutants they identified the main antigenic regions of these viruses and analyzed their conservation and variation between different field isolates. Results were applied both at the updating and optimization of diagnostic techniques based on MAbs. Back to Spain, she joined the group of Dr. Francisco Sobrino, devoted to the development of new strategies for prevention and control of viral diseases, using FMDV as a model; and in particular she focused on the development of novel vaccines based on nucleic acids. She now performs  her research activity on the field of development and optimization of vaccines and antivirals against zoonotic arboviruses within the Bunyavirus Research Group led by Dr.Alejandro Brun at CISA-INIA, Valdeolmos.