Young researchers win grants to work in labs in North America

Ten early-career scientists will receive grants this year from the Promoting Research Opportunities for Latin American Biochemists program, which will allow them to advance their research by working in the labs of collaborators in the U.S. and Canada.

Since 2012, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Pan-American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the International Union for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology have given 104 biochemists these travel awards. The program welcomes applicants from the 10 countries involved in PABMB: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Cuba, Panama, Mexico, Spain and Portugal. Awards support travel and related expenses.

This year’s PROLAB travel grants go to Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay and Spain.

María Vanesa Amarelle Larrosa

Amarelle is a research assistant at the Clemente Estable Research Institute in Uruguay. She is working to identify new biological parts and to develop a new bacterial chassis for use in synthetic biology. For her PROLAB stint, she will work in the Microbial Systems Biology Lab at Boston College. Her project is titled “Functional genomics of alternative SynBio chassis: shortening the gap for developing synthetic biology hosts.”

Andrea Celeste Arismendi Sosa

Arismendi is a lecturer in microbiology at the National University of San Luis, Argentina. She is also pursuing a university teaching specialization at the National University of Cuyo. She will learn more about mast cells while working at the Nanotechnology Research Centre, part of the National Research Council Canada. Her project is titled “The effect of dehydroleucodine on mast cell function and responses to Helicobacter pylori infection.”

Viviana Andrea Cavieres Risco

Cavieres is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of San Sebastián in Chile. She is studying the potential involvement of endoplasmic reticulum quality control in resistance to chemotherapy for breast cancer. Cavieres will work at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, where she will learn correlative light electron microscopy. Her project is titled “Possible role of membrane contact sites between the endoplasmic reticulum and lysosomes in resistance to chemotherapeutics in breast cancer cell models modulated by key ER proteins.”

Andrés Di Paolo

Di Paolo is a postdoctoral fellow at the Clemente Estable Research Institute in Uruguay. He studies subcellular localization of protein translation. His PROLAB travel award will allow him to spend time at the University of Toronto. Di Paolo will learn super resolution microscopy to unravel the interactions of organelles in axons at basal and injury conditions. His project is titled “Disruption of organelle interaction in the long axis of neurons in vivo and in vitro.”

María Victoria Gutierrez

Gutierrez is pursuing a Ph.D. in biochemistry at the National University of Córdoba in Argentina while serving as an assistant professor. She will visit the University of Pittsburgh, where she will learn more about nitrolipids through new skills in mass spectrometry. Her project is titled “Effects of nitrolipids on lipid metabolism and scavenger receptor expression in monocytes and their links to atherosclerosis.”

Susana Guzmán Puyol

Guzmán is a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Mediterranean and Subtropical Horticulture in Spain. She specializes in the production of sustainable packaging from discarded plant biomass. Guzmán will join the City University of New York Institute for Macromolecular Assemblies, where she will conduct solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance tests of suberin polymers from the epidermal tissues of potatoes to develop novel biomaterials. Her project is titled “Full characterization by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of suberin-based films obtained from suberin monomers.”

Coral Martínez Martínez is pursuing a Ph.D. at the Institute of Biotechnology in Mexico. In addition, Martínez works as a research assistant on stomatal development and physiology in beans. With her PROLAB grant, she will be working at the University of Wisconsin­–Madison, where she will perform live and electron microscopy cell imaging to analyze the function of late embryo-genesis abundant proteins in protecting plant cells against desiccation and drought. Her project is titled “Subcellular distribution of an intrinsically disordered protein involved in desiccation and drought tolerance in plants.”

Camila Oses Oliveto

Oses is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. She studies the dynamical organization of pluripotency transcription factors in embryonic stem cells. Her PROLAB project will take her to the University of California, Berkeley. She will investigate if mechanical cell perturbations can be transduced to the nucleus, with impacts on the chromatin of embryonic stem cells. Her project is titled “Effects of mechanical forces on the nuclear organization of pluripotency transcription factors in stem cells.”

Victoria Rozés-Salvador

Rozés-Salvador is an assistant professor at the Center for Research in Clinical Biochemistry and Immunology in Argentina. PROLAB will take her to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, where she will study the role of the secretory pathway in neuron function and development. Her project is titled “Contribution of the CREB3 transcription factors family to the modulation of the secretory pathway and their implication in early neuronal development.”

Maria Julia Pimentel Solá

Pimentel is pursuing her Ph.D. while studying leishmaniasis at the Institute of Experimental Pathology in Argentina. Pimentel will work at the SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. Her project is titled “Autophagy pathways triggered by Leishmania parasites isolated from mucosal leishmaniasis patients.”

About the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB): The ASBMB is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization with more than 12,000 members worldwide. Founded in 1906 to advance the science of biochemistry and molecular biology, the society publishes three peer-reviewed journals, advocates for funding of basic research and education, supports science education at all levels, and promotes the diversity of individuals entering the scientific workforce. For more information about the ASBMB, visit www.asbmb.org