Assistant Professor
Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay
My academic training and research experience have provided me an excellent background in multiple biological disciplines including biochemistry of proteins, cellular and molecular biology to answer biological questions associated to human disease.
During my Bachelor and Master’s degree I have been trained in biochemistry of proteins. We studied the influence of the structure of the protein in the development of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. I participated in two international internships, one at the Molecular Genetics Laboratory (Saint Louis Hospital, France) where we studied protein quality control. The other, at the Structural and Cellular Biology Laboratory (Institute Leloir, Argentina) where we focus on changes in proteins folding that could contribute to the progression of the disease.
My PhD studies at the Institut Pasteur, Uruguay, were focused on cancer biology. During this period, I improved my skills throughout the entire research cycle: from project design, through obtaining and interpreting results to writing original research papers and reviews. I have presented my findings as poster and oral presentations at national and international meetings. I have written original research papers, review papers,
and book chapters. The thesis allowed us to identified new subpopulation within the tumoral clone with high expression of proliferative and anti-apoptotic molecules, and propose a novel mechanism (miR-22/PTEN/AKT), that could explain the proliferative behavior of B cells form CLL patients.
After finishing my PhD, I entered a postdoctoral fellowship program at the Nicholas Chiorazzi, MD and Kanti Rai, MD Laboratory at Northwell Health, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research (Manhasset, NY, USA), to study the characterization of different fractions of B cells in the clone and its influence in CLL disease progression. During my trainee, I presented my findings as poster and oral presentation at national and international meetings and I have written research papers. I was founded two times by Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation (2016-2018). Our findings showed that the oncogene Musashi2 affects CLL-cell growth and survival and correlates with worse clinical course and outcome suggesting that this molecule and its pathway are potential therapeutic targets.
In February 2021 I returned to Uruguay as Assistant Professor at the Institut Pasteur Montevideo. My career goal is to become an independent investigator studying human B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders. My research interest involves the translational medicine, in particular on the discovery on new therapeutic targets and treatments. I believe my experience and determination I have gained during the years will allow me to achieve this goal. The current application obtained represents an outstanding opportunity to start an innovative line of research that will enable me to launch an independent research career.
