Our general research interests are centered in the development of functional materials with applications in areas such as biomedicine, catalysis, molecular sensing, coatings and adhesives, environmental remediation and energy. We believe that the discovery of new versatile and functional materials with solid prospect for practical applications will be intimately associated to inexpensive, simple and scalable processes. Thus, we aim to select the most practical chemical approaches for the synthesis of new materials and fine-tuning specific properties.

Our research group is interested in uncovering the molecular mechanisms regulating tissue homeostasis during normal development and during pathological conditions, in particular in cancer. Using a combination of novel transcriptome-wide analyses and mouse and human in vitro and in vivo models, we are focused on studying the role of post-transcriptional modifications such as RNA methylation in normal development and during pathological conditions. RNA modifications are beginning to define a novel layer of biological complexity that is becoming widely appreciated as the epitranscriptome.

Our group is interested in understanding how macromolecular machines control essential cellular functions. We rely on a blend of cryo-electron microscopy, x-ray crystallography, with biochemical and functional assays to help to understand these processes at atomic level.

Phytochemicals, Bioactivity and Process Development Group is is focused on: - The revalorization of vegetable by-products by the characterization and isolation of their high value components using simple and economically viable processes that not require chemical treatments - The search for sustainable processes based on improving energy consumption, reducing the use of solvents and environmental impact. - The investigation of the biological activities of phytochemicals for the development of new products in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and agricultural sectors For these purposes, foll

Our group is interested in understanding how epigenetic processes are implicated in host-parasite interactions by regulating gene expression in response to changing environments, and how those processes impact adaptation and disease. We work with human malaria parasites and their mosquito vectors because they show striking plasticity in their phenotypes during development and in adaptation to hosts. We combine field work, diverse epigenetics and genomics techniques and computational biology to decipher the mechanisms underlying plasticity in malaria.

Theory, Bioinformatics and Computation (formerly Dynamics of Living Systems) is a research group created in the new research institute I2SysBio (2017), which includes physicists, biologists and computer engineers with research interests in systems biology. Our team develops basic and applied research in the area of Systems Biology, with emphasis in theoretical models, bioinformatics and computational studies of complex biological systems with interest in biomedicine and biotechnology.

Cell division requires the proper spatio-temporal coordination between mitosis and citokinesis to allow the correct inheritance of the genetic material. Eukaryotic cells assemble the mitotic spindle to permit chromosome segregation into the daughter cells. The spindle in an structure made on microtubules, which are polarized and highly polarized cytoskeletal filaments. The major functions of the spindle are to properly capture chromosomes and to become a bipolar structure that allows their segregation into the daughter cells during cell division.

Research in the group will focus on developing effective homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for a better synthetic chemistry, from multi-ton products to fine chemistry and pharmaceuticals, besides photobiology. Catalysis and photochemistry are both cross matterr in many fields, including organic synthesis, material science and photomedicine, and serves for the understanding of chemistry and how it influences our way of life.