Ciencia Puerto Rico

I am currently an Assistant Professor at the College of Biomedical Sciences at Larkin University, where I teach biochemistry, immunology, and molecular genetics. I also carry out scientific research to address the immunotoxicology of airborne biological pollutants.

I am also Early Stage Investigator with interest in providing insights on the immunological and physiological alterations affecting human health as result of environmental pollutant exposures. My interest in this line of scientific research originates during my studies towards a PhD in Microbiology under the mentorship of Dr. Bolaños-Rosero (collaborator in the proposed research) at School of Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR)– Medical Sciences Campus. Under his mentorship, my research provided insights into the prevalence of immunological reactivity to previously uncharacterized fungal allergens endemic in the atmosphere of Puerto Rico. As a postdoc at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, I further expanded my interest in human-based immunological approaches in environmental health studies. I was co-mentored by Dr. Hartung (director of the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing of Johns Hopkins University) and Dr. Breysse (currently the director at the National Center for Environmental Health at the CDC).  Their mentorship contributed to various publications addressing the immunotoxicological potential of indoor air pollutants of biological and non-biological origins. These efforts lead to being awarded, by the Ethical Consumer Association, the Lush Young Researcher Award in 2012 (London, UK), and collaborating in an NIH-funded epidemiological study of childhood asthma in Lima, Peru (3R01ES018845-04S1, PI: Nadia Hansel). Currently, I am an Assistant Professor at the College of Biomedical Sciences at Larkin University. Here, I direct the Respiratory and Immunology Project Laboratory (https://www.riplrt.com), in which our mission is to provide immuno-physiological insights, through human-based approaches and data analytics, on the human health effects from air pollutants exposures. I am also a collaborator in an NIH-funded projects addressing the respiratory health of Puerto Ricans in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, and HUD-funded projects to address the health effects of multi-pollutant foci in children with asthma in semi-urban areas of Austin, Texas. 

In addition to my scientific research training and experience, I gained and followed upon on intensive training in computational biology and data science approaches. This computational training has expanded my scientific spectrum of research by also participating in collaborative projects to identify gene expression (transcriptomics) and protein profiles (proteomics), and elaborate predictive statistical modeling through the R, Python, and Matlab computer languages.

I am also the creator and Co-founder of Vistazo A La Ciencia (A Glance at the Science): https://www.vistazoalaciencia.com