Marta Belmonte

Profile

Marta Farré Belmonte is a Reader in the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences at Queen Mary University of London. She is an evolutionary genomicist whose research explores how genome structure shapes evolution, adaptation and fertility in vertebrates. Her work combines comparative genomics, chromosome biology and emerging sequencing technologies to understand why genomes change, and what the biological consequences of those changes are. 

Marta obtained her PhD from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where she studied mammalian genome evolution, and completed postdoctoral research at Aberystwyth University and the Royal Veterinary College, focusing on livestock and wildlife genomics. She established her independent research group at the University of Kent in 2018 before joining Queen Mary University of London in 2026.

She has particular expertise in comparative genomics, long-read sequencing, population genomics, cytogenetics and 3D genome analysis. Her research spans fundamental questions in genome evolution as well as applied challenges in biodiversity, animal breeding and reproductive health. 

Undergraduate Teaching

BIO223: Genes and Bioinformatics

BIO331: Mammals Evolution

Research

Research Interests:

Genome structure is dynamic. Chromosomal rearrangements, structural variants and changes in genome organisation can generate evolutionary novelty, influence fertility and contribute to adaptation. My research aims to understand the mechanisms that drive these changes and their consequences across vertebrates.

Current areas of interest include:

Comparative genomics and chromosome evolution

Using chromosome-level genome assemblies across diverse vertebrate species to reconstruct genome evolution, identify conserved synteny, and understand why some genomic regions are repeatedly involved in rearrangement.

Structural variation and fertility

Investigating how reciprocal translocations, Robertsonian fusions and other structural variants affect recombination, gene flow and reproductive success in natural populations and livestock.

3D genome organisation

Applying Hi-C and related approaches to study how chromatin architecture interacts with chromosome rearrangements, centromere biology and genome function.

Genomics for biodiversity and applied biology

Developing genomic approaches relevant to wildlife conservation, livestock breeding and reproductive medicine, bridging evolutionary biology with real-world challenges.

I am always interested in hearing from prospective PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and collaborators working in genomics, evolution, chromosome biology or related fields.