Dr. Concepción Keiko Shirai Matsumoto is a Mexican scientist, Full Professor-Researcher (Category C) at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Iztapalapa (UAM-I), and holds Level III status in Mexico's National System of Researchers (SNI). She earned her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences (1999) and her Master's degree in Biotechnology (1994) from UAM Iztapalapa. Her research focuses on Environmental Biotechnology, centered on valorizing organic residues for the scalable production of biopolymers (such as chitosan and bacterial cellulose), enzymes, and other high-value compounds. She has taught continuously at both undergraduate and graduate levels since 1989 and has authored three textbooks.

Her scholarly output includes 124 published works (91 in ISI-indexed journals and 30 in non-ISI peer-reviewed journals), accumulating 4,645 citations with an h-index of 37, serving as first or corresponding author on 70% of her ISI publications and 90% of her non-ISI publications. A key aspect of her work is technological transfer and outreach, supported by a portfolio of 9 granted or pending patents. Notable innovations include an enhanced oil recovery process using hydrophobins (Patent No. 409915), a thermoplastic matrix of biodegradable polymers for heavy metal removal (Patent No. 397774), and a bioreactor for obtaining chitin and astaxanthin from shrimp waste (Patent No. 365565), which have led to corporate licensing agreements and industrial-scale validation projects.

In human resource development, she has supervised 128 research projects and postdoctoral stays, graduating 17 Ph.D. holders, 32 Master's degree holders, 5 specialists, and 72 Bachelor's degree holders, fostering the establishment of 19 research teams operating across Mexico and abroad. Her trajectory has been recognized with the title of Distinguished Professor by UAM in 2023 and the "Heberto Castillo Martínez" Capital City Award in 2011, among other honors. She is a full member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and has served on academic committees and conference organizing boards, notably co-founding the Iberoamerican Chitin Society.