The group lead by Salvador Conejero and Amor Rodríguez has been established in December 2016 with the name “Design of Organometallic Molecules and Applications”. The aim of this group is to develop organometallic catalysts and to study the mechanisms by which these molecules operate. Both Salvador Conejero and Amor Rodríguez have a very broad experience in organometallic chemistry and catalysis, an expertise that has been acquired over the years in renowned research centers in Spain, France and USA.

We are major contributors to the growing realization that hundreds of thousands of small ORFs (smORFs) of 10 to 100 amino-acids (aa) exist in every metazoan genome; that thousands of smORFs are translated; and that smORF peptides can have important functions and be widely conserved across metazoans. We are one of the few groups worldwide that can apply functional genomics to the study of smORFs, due to our expertise in functional genetic analysis, bioinformatics, and ribosomal profiling.

We are devoted to the study of quantum phenomena on solid surfaces, mainly giving support to experiments performed with the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) on atoms, molecules and nanostructures on solid surfaces. The STM is an extraordinary tool that images and manipulates single atoms. Then, we test theories and simulations procedures, trying to be quantitative. To this end, we use density functional theory (DFT) calculations. However, dynamical phenomena, as well as quantum phenomena going beyond a mean-field description is missing from DFT. We develop our own tools.

Understanding the mechanisms that preserve the integrity of eukaryotic genomes during chromosome replication, thus counteracting the accumulation of mutations and gross structural rearrangements driving malignant transformation.

Our group uses the mouse limb skeleton as an experimental system to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms that coordinate morphogenesis and cell differentiation. To do so, we combine the strengths of mouse genetic analysis (using next-generation tools such as CRISPR-Cas9) with functional genomics approaches (ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, 4C-seq, etc), including their variants at single cell level.

In our group we research in the design, synthesis an biological evaluation of novel sulfur- and/or selenium-containing organic compounds. Our goal is to obtain novel active sulfur compounds and selenocompounds with potential applications in the treatment of diseases. The diseases in which we focus in our research work are: -Cancer: compounds with antiproliferative, cytotoxic and/or chemopreventive activity in cancer.

Our research focuses on understanding the role of cell mechanics in tumorigenesis and metastasis. In this context, cell mechanics refers to the biophysical properties of solid tumor matter. We are particularly interested in the effect of the mechanical properties of the tumor microenvironment in the ability of tumor cells to proliferate and migrate to distal places (metastasis) as well as their ability to evade the anti-tumor immune response.

The SANUDE Group comprises 5 staff scientists and 3-4 postdocs and PhD students. Our research focus is the understanding of the signaling pathways and molecular responses to environmental stresses, both biotic and abiotic, with basic and applied interest. In particular we are interested in (1) the response to salinity stress, the homeostatic regulation of sodium contents in Arabidopsis and rice, (2) mineral nutrition of plants, specially potassium and nitrate, and (3) early signaling events in the response to bacterial pathogens and plant immunity establishment in Solanaceae.

The main objective of Dr. Morales' Laboratory is the design, preparation and evaluation of potential drugs for different pathologies such as neurodegenerative diseases, degenerative diseases of the retina, infections caused by parasites (Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania major) and different types of cancer. Our approach is based in the concepts of prodrug and hybrid drugs.

Molecular Nutrition and Metabolism group was created in 2017. At present, Virginia García Cañas, Carolina Simó Ruiz, Oswaldo Hernández Hernández and Maricruz Mamani Huanca are part of the research team. Additionally, the group occasionally hosts visiting students and researchers from various universities, but their contributions are inherently temporary and of short duration.