Dr. Garcia-Vallejo was born and raised in the South of Spain. A bright student, he developed early on a keen interest in Science and Technology. Fascinated by the tenacity and creativity of national glories such as Santiago Ramon y Cajal and Severo Ochoa, he actively shaped his medical studies with extensive internships in the fields of Biochemistry and Immunology. In 1999, soon after obtaining his MD from the University of Malaga (Spain), he moved to the Free University of Amsterdam to pursue his dream of becoming a technology-minded translational immunologist. His current research focuses in deciphering the escape mechanisms of deadly tumors such as pancreatic and brain cancer with the aim of identifying new targets for diagnostics and therapy. Dr. Garcia-Vallejo is a recognized expert in the emerging field of imaging flow cytometry and, since his appointment as Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Molecular Cell Biology & Immunology of the VU University Medical Center in 2014, he has succeeded in assembling O|2Flow, the most technologically advanced and complete cytometry facility in the Netherlands. In order to secure the sustainability of this facility and to help bridging the gap of between academic science and technology exploitation, Dr. Garcia-Vallejo is currently following an executive MBA program of the University of Amsterdam (due December 2016). An amateur cook and photographer, Juan loves spending his free time with his wife and two small daughters.