She studies the biology of the microbial communities that drive the biogeochemical cycles of iron and sulfur under extreme acidic conditions, in both natural and mineral-mining industrial environments. Using these model systems, her research group seeks to understand the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying the adaptive responses of acidophilic microorganisms to their extreme environment under changing conditions (ecological gradients), and the rules that define the structure, function, and dynamics of the microbial communities they conform. She is author of more than 70 articles and reviews in the field, and she is co-editor of the first published book on acidophiles microbiology.

Raquel Quatrini was born and raised in Argentina where she completed her bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences (1992–1996, Universidad del Comahue). After graduation, she moved to Chile to obtain her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Chile (1999-2003). Between 2004 and 2006 she was postdoctoral fellow of the Millennium Institute for Fundamental and Applied Biology, training skills in comparative and functional genomics in Chile, Marseille and US. Since 2007 she is head of the Microbial Ecophysiology Lab. at Fundación Ciencia & Vida. Currently, she is Associate Professor at Universidad San Sebastián (2019 - to date).

Raquel Quatrini teaches Molecular Microbiology and, Genomics and Proteomics for undergraduates in Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine and Science of the Universidad San Sebastián. She is also faculty member of the USS PhD programs in Biotechnology and Bioentrepreneurship, Computational Biology and, Immunology and Microbiology, and of the Master Program in Molecular Biomedicine.