BIO
I did my Ph.D at the University of Barcelona (UB) in the group of Prof. Javier Luque, where I obtained my doctorate with highest honors. Then, I did a Postdoctorate combining theoretical and experimental methods in computer aided drug design (CADD).Also, I made experimental work for determining lipophilicity in drugs with the Prof. Clara Ràfols. I continue working in the parametrization of QM-based solvation models (IEFPCM/MST model), being one of the most accurate methods based on the results of the SAMPL Challenges.
I was a Visitor Professor at the State University of Pará (UFPA)-Brazil (2017) and University of Barcelona (2021)
I joined the UCR and Advanced Computing National Collaboratory as early-career researcher in 2020 where I formed a research group in CADD and Computational Biology.
I currently work in interdisciplinary projects in collaboration with Experimental and Teoretical Chemists (U. of Barcelona, U. of Nebraska-USA and U. of Costa Rica), Medicinal Chemists (U. of Costa Rica & Seoul National University-Korea), Computer Scientists (TEC & CNCA-CONARE), Biologists (U. of Costa Rica), Structural Biologists (U. of Melbourne) and Microbiologists (U. of Costa Rica) and Companies (Pion Inc-UK, Pharmacelera Inc-Spain) around the world.
I am currently working as:
- Professor, School of Chemistry-UCR.
- Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy-UCR.
- Professor, Postgraduate Studies System in Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine-UCR.
- Professor, Postgraduate Studies System in Chemistry, School of Chemistry-UCR.
- Associate Researcher, Advanced Computing Laboratory (CNCA), CONARE, Costa Rica National High Technology Center (CeNAT)
Also, I have been invited as Reviewer for Internationals Journals
- Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design
https://www.springer.com/journal/10822/
- Computers in Biology and Medicine:
https://www.journals.elsevier.com/computers-in-biology-and-medicine
- FEBS Letters
https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/18733468
- American Chemical Society Journals
PRIZES AND AWARDS
2021 Coimbra Group Universities. European Union, Brussels, Belgium: “Scholarship Programme for Young Professors and Researchers from Latin American Universities” (First Central American) https://www.coimbra-group.eu/scholarships/
First Latin American to obtain an outstanding participation in The SAMPL7 Physical Property Challenge 2021. Drug Design and Resource Data, University of California San Diego, United States: “The Most Exact in Silico Method for the Determination of Lipophilicity in the SAMPL7 Global Challenge” https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10822-021-00397-3
2020 Biophysical Society, Maryland, United States: “Biophysical Society Travel Award for Early Career Researcher to Recognize Excellence in Biophysics and Promote Greater Interaction Among Biophysicists Throughout the World” (First Central American) https://www.biophysics.org/blog/tag/travel-awards
Honorable Mention Ph.D: “summa cum laude” Title:“Toward Refined Theoretical Models for the Description of Lipophilicity in Biomolecules”
The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. American Chemical Society, United States “Article selected for ACS Live Slides”
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b00028The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO-2018), Heidelberg, Germany. “Selected participant for EMBO Course” Title: “Integrative modeling of biomolecular interactions”.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. American Chemical Society, United States “Article selected for ACS Live Slides” https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b08311
1st Latin American Workshop of Molecular Modeling and Computer Simulation, University of Buenos Aires (UBA) “Participant selected for the MMCS practical course” Title: “Molecular Modeling and Computer Simulation
MICITT/CONICIT Government of Costa Rica Fellowship for doctoral studies at the University of Barcelona
Rectory of the University of Costa Rica. Appointment of a partial time in research
Materials Science Institute (CSIC) Fellow, Sevilla Spain. Fellowship to attend the postgraduate course “Determination of structures of real solids: nuclear magnetic resonance technique”
Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities. University de Georgia, United States “Honor Programme: CURO International Research Symposium” Selected participant for Life Sciences Area of the University of Costa Rica https://curo.uga.edu/symposium/