Activity Report 2016

His interest in glycobiology began as an undergraduate student, while working with glycosyl hydrolases in the Leloir Institute at Buenos Aires, Argentina (1991-1996). This research center was named in honor to Luis F. Leloir, who discovered the first sugar nucleotide and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1970.

He then completed his doctoral studies in biochemistry and molecular biology studying mechanistic aspects of glycosyltransferases in the Leloir Institute (1997-2002). To further advance toward the understanding of the molecular mechanism that governs glycosyl transfer reactions, he moved to the Structural Biochemistry Unit at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, where he was first introduced to macromolecular crystallography (2003-2007). After this postdoctoral training, he continued his work on the mycobacterial cell envelope when he transferred as a postdoctoral fellow to the Mycobacteria Research Laboratories in the Department of Microbiology, at Colorado State University in the United States (2008-2009). In 2009, he was awarded an Ikerbasque Research Professor position as the Head of the Structural Glycobiology Group (SGP).

He started his work at the Unit of Biophysics (CSIC-UPV), the Basque Country, Spain. More recently, he moved to the Structural Biology Unit, CIC bioGUNE as the Head of the Structural Glycobiology Lab. He is particularly interested in investigating the structural and mechanistic properties of carbohydrate modifying enzymes. To this end, the group is using a multidisciplinary approach including protein biochemistry, protein biophysics and structural biology.

His interest in structural biology and bacterial pathogenicity began at Imperial College London, where he developed his research in the Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection of the Medical Research Council, London, UK (2006-2011). This research center is an international reference point in molecular, cellular and structural aspects of bacterial pathogenesis.  

Previous to this, he completed his doctoral studies in chemistry at the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK (2000-2004), followed by a first postdoctoral training in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Durham, Durham, UK (2004-2006).  

To further advance towards the understanding of the molecular mechanism that underline bacterial pathogenesis, he moved to the Structural Glycobiology Laboratory (2011 to present), where he focuses on the structural bases of glycolipid biosynthesis in bacteria.  

In 2014, he was awarded an Ikerbasque Research Fellowship, a highly competitive program that provides a path towards an independent research career. To this end, he is using a multidisciplinary approach including protein biochemistry, protein biophysics and structural biology to study the involvement of the Type 6 Secretion System in bacterial competition and human pathogenicity.