Elena Murcia García

Elena Murcia García

PhD Candidate · Eating Disorders Research Unit · UCAM Universidad Católica de Murcia

Nutrition scientist and computational researcher working at the interface of pharmacology, food bioactives and obesity, with a focus on identifying natural compounds against metabolic disease through in silico screening.

About

Elena holds a degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics (University of Murcia, 2014) and an MSc in Nutrition, Food Technology and Safety (University of Murcia, 2015). Since 2023 she has been a member of academic and research staff at UCAM, working with the Eating Disorders Research Unit at the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Her current research combines clinical nutrition with computational drug discovery: identification of bioactive natural compounds with activity against obesity-related targets such as pancreatic lipase, the GLP-1 receptor and adipogenesis regulators. She develops in silico pipelines in collaboration with the BIO-HPC group at UCAM, contributing to tools such as OBE-DB, a web server for predicting drugs against obesity.

She has published in journals including the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, and has presented her work at international congresses on obesity and nutrition.

Research focus

Natural compounds against obesity

In silico identification of bioactive natural products as inhibitors of pancreatic lipase, adipogenesis regulators and GLP-1 receptor agonists.

Clinical & translational nutrition

Randomized controlled trials and lipidomic analyses linking food bioactives to metabolic outcomes in patients with obesity and MASLD.

Computational tools for nutrition

Co-development of OBE-DB, a computational tool and web server for predicting drug candidates against obesity.

Selected publications

  • Effect of Silibinin on Human Pancreatic Lipase Inhibition and Gut Microbiota in Healthy Volunteers: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Ponce Martínez C, Murcia García E, Pérez Sánchez H, et al. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 25(23), 2024. doi:10.3390/ijms252312853
  • Lipidomic analysis reveals alterations in hepatic FA profile associated with MASLD stage in patients with obesity. Núñez-Sánchez MA, Martínez-Sánchez MA, Murcia-García E, et al. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2024. doi:10.1210/clinem/dgae028
  • Identification of bioactive natural compounds with GLP1R agonist activity: an in silico approach. Murcia-García E, Carmena-Bargueño M, Ramos-Molina B, Hernández-Morante JJ, Pérez-Sánchez H. 31st European Congress on Obesity, 2024.
  • OBE-DB: A computational tool and web server for the prediction of drugs against obesity. Murcia-García E, Martínez-Cortés C, Banegas-Luna AJ, Hernández-Morante JJ, Pérez-Sánchez H. XXXIII Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Nutrición, 2024.