Carmen Méndez is licensed in Biological Sciences (1979) and achieved a doctorate in Biology (1984) from the University of Oviedo. After a postdoctoral stay (1984–86) at the John Innes Institute (Norwich, UK), she returned to the University of Oviedo, where she obtained a permanent position as an Associate Professor (1988), and later on as a Full Professor (2011) in Microbiology. Her research interests are focused on mining Streptomyces genomes, looking for unknown biosynthesis gene clusters potentially encoding new bioactive compounds with unusual chemical characteristics, and in the identification and characterization of uncommon biosynthesis steps that take place along the pathways for bioactive compounds, whose genes/enzymes have potential applications in the generation of novel compounds by combinatorial biosynthesis.