Postdoctoral research fellow
School of Biomedical Sciences-The University of Queensland
I completed my Bachelor in Biochemistry followed by a Master in Biochemistry/Immunology in Chile. I then worked as a research assistant at the Millennium Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy, focusing on neurodegeneration and the immune response in the context of multiple sclerosis.
I moved to The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia in 2014, to start my PhD at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, under the supervision of Professor Mathew Copper. Prof. Cooper, have developed a novel molecule inhibitor of the NLRP3-inflammasome, which is effective blocking neuroinflammation (Nature Medicine). My PhD project has assisted in the development of next-generation inhibitors, and to validate NLRP3 as a druggable therapeutic target for Parkinson’s disease. I have published several articles during my Ph.D., with our seminal on NLRP3 in Parkinson, published in Science Translational Medicine. In parallel, I have been collaborating with Inflazome Ltd, a new company that has licensed the NLPR3 inhibitors that I have been running in preclinical trials. I have validated the lead candidate drug with the support of Michael J. Fox Foundation funding. This drug is now positioned to enter human Phase I clinical trials in 2020, followed by Phase II testing in Parkinson’s disease. Currently, I’m working as a Postdoctoral research fellow in the lab of A/Prof. Trent Woodruff in the field of neurodegeneration and therapeutic target identification and translation.
Area/Research interests: Neuroimmunology, Pharmacology, Neurodegeneration, Inflammasomes, Parkinson’s Disease, Education, Translational research.
