I am an Assistant Professor in the VMPM department. I obtained my BSc from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and my PhD in Microbiology from Universidad de Chile in 2017, under the mentorship of Marcelo López-Lastra. My PhD focused on non-canonical mechanisms of mRNA translation used by retroviruses, hepatitis C, and hantaviruses. In 2018, I began my postdoc at the University of Georgia (UGA) under the mentorship of Daniel R. Perez. In 2022, I was promoted to Assistant Research Scientist (non-tenure track faculty). My research at UGA focused on the influenza and SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, I participated in developing and testing novel vaccine platforms and antivirals. My current research focuses on the pathogenesis and viral-host interactions of influenza and coronaviruses relevant for animals and humans.

I began my undergraduate research experience at Minnesota State University Moorhead and continued at Waldorf University. After completing my bachelor’s degree, I gained further research experience at the University of Iowa, where I earned my master’s degree in biomedical science from the Biochemistry Department. Subsequently, I applied to the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology program at Iowa State University to pursue my doctoral degree. Here, I was introduced to the field of reproductive toxicology and joined Dr. Aileen Keating’s research group at the beginning of 2019. After graduating in 2022, I became a post-doctoral fellow at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, VPRU-ARS unit, where I utilized various microbiology and molecular assays to identify and analyze strains of both classical and atypical types of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) affecting large animals (deer, elks, cattle, and sheep). I then joined Dr. Caceres’ laboratory as a Research Scientist to enhance our understanding of viral mechanisms and influenza transmission in humans, swine, and poultry.