About
Associate Professor at the Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering (IIBM) from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and Adjunct Researcher at the Millenium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio). Our research group employs experimental and computational strategies to unveil the folding-function-evolution relationships of many proteins of biomedical and biotechnological interests. In terms of protein folding, our research group studies metamorphic proteins that are the causative of infections and diseases, such as the bacterial virulence factor RfaH, the cyanobacterial circadian clock protein KaiB and the FoxP subfamily of human transcription factors, which constitute prototypical models to understand the emergence of novel protein folds in nature. For protein function, our research is focused on the discovery, characterization and engineering of bacterial enzymes that hydrolyze PET, a widely used plastic that accumulates as waste in landfills and natural environments at similar rates to its production. We also work on the development of open-source protocols for the local production of enzymes and reagents used in the detection of viral infections, including SARS-CoV-2, in association with the Reagent Collaboration Network, ReClone (https://reclone.org/). I am currently an Executive Councilor of The Protein Society for the term 2023-2025, an EMBO Global Investigator Network for the term 2023-2026 and a RosettaCommons affiliated PI. I also recently organized the first Latin American Workshop on AI for Protein Design and the first Symposium on Plastics Accumulation and Biological Recycling in Chile.
Joined
October 2023
