María Dolores Ortiz Márquez

Dolores Ortiz has been a Associate Professor at the University of Cantabria (UC) since 2012. She graduated from the University of Cantabria in 1998. Her research career began in March 1999 as a research fellow in the Optics Group of the Department of Applied Physics at the University of Cantabria, working on a research project focused on the applications of physical optics in Ophthalmology. In May 2001, she was awarded a University Teaching Training Grant (FPU) by the Ministry of Education, allowing her to continue her research within the same collaboration with the ophthalmology clinic and to present her doctoral thesis in 2004. In September 2004, she joined the R&D&I department of the Alicante Ophthalmology Institute as part of a project funded by the Torres-Quevedo program of the Ministry of Science and Technology. During her four-year postdoctoral stay, her work developed along two research lines: refractive surgery and visual quality (diagnosis through optical-physiological objective indicators and optimization of the ocular dioptric system), and crystalline lens surgery and visual quality (study of the effect of implanting different types of intraocular lenses on the optical quality of the ocular system).
 
In October 2008, she returned to the University of Cantabria as an assistant professor in the Department of Applied Physics, teaching various subjects. After undergoing the corresponding promotion processes, she has held the position of Associate Professor since May 2012, focusing her teaching on Physics subjects in the Degree in Mining and Energy Resource Engineering, as well as the courses Optical Design and Medical Imaging and Physiological Optics in the Master's Degree in Light Science and Engineering, for which she is also an academic co-coordinator.
 
Currently, her research interests align with the main lines of the UC Optics Group, with the most significant in terms of dedication and number of projects being light diffusion—and backscattering—by structured surfaces and by particles on surfaces or within a volume. These studies have involved a wide range of methodologies (angular dependence, integration, statistical analysis of fluctuations, comprehensive polarimetric studies, etc.) and the use of computational techniques (ranging from ray tracing to integral methods such as the Extinction Theorem or the Discrete Dipole Approximation). More recently, she has been involved in a new research line applying Monte Carlo calculations to numerically model surface reflectance in systems where the underlying volume plays a significant and complex role. This work has applications in experimental science (spectral behavior of colloids and their solid sediment) and applied science (agreements with industries where surface finishing is crucial). She is currently participating in two research projects in the field of nanoplasmonics: the first aims to study the photothermal response of hybrid nanoscale systems so that they act as new nanoantennas capable of generating localized heating while also controlling its directionality; the second focuses on developing an optical biosensor based on a nano-hole array as a new tool for identifying tumor tissue during glioblastoma (brain tumor) surgery.
 
She is the author of 51 high-impact articles in the fields of Optics and Ophthalmology, as well as over 100 contributions to both national and international conferences. She has participated as a researcher in six publicly funded research projects and five privately funded projects. Additionally, she has contributed to three book chapters. She serves as a reviewer for journals such as Optics Express, Nanomaterials, NanoLetters, Applied Optics, Optometry and Vision Science, European Journal of Ophthalmology, British Journal of Ophthalmology, Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, and Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.