Touz Laboratory
Dr. María Carolina Touz
Dr. María Carolina Touz graduated as a Biochemist at the National University of Córdoba, Argentina and obtained her Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences from the same University in 2001. She later moved to the USA to carry out four years of post-doctoral studies at the Parasitic Disease Laboratory, National Institutes of Health, under the guidance of Dr. Theodore Nash. She is currently an Independent Researcher of the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) and co-directs the Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology of the Ferreyra Institute in Córdoba, Argentina. Since 2016 she is the vice-director of the Institute. Her specialty is the study of the molecular mechanisms involved in vesicular trafficking to the lysosome-like vacuoles in the intestinal parasite Giardia lamblia. Her work focuses on several important issues related not only to the basic mechanisms of intracellular trafficking of proteins during the growth and differentiation of Giardia but also to their relationship with the pathogenesis and transmission of this parasite.
Associate Researchers:
Dr. Constanza Feliziani
Dr. Constanza Feliziani has a Degree in Chemistry (2009) from the National University of Córdoba, Argentina and obtained her PhD in Chemical Sciences from the same University in 2015. Subsequently, she carried out four years of post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of Neurobiology at the Ferreyra Institute, under the supervision of Dra. Mariana Bollo. Currently, she is an Assistant Researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) and is associated with the Microbiology and Immunology Laboratory of the Ferreyra Institute. She also works as Associate Professor in at the Institute of Basic and Applied Sciences of Veterinary Medicine of the National University of Villa María. Her specialty is the study of two parasitic organisms, Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba, using techniques of biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, and immunology, among others. In relation to G. lambia, her main interest is to study the mechanisms associated with cell death in the parasite related with antiparasitic drugs, while her second line of research is related to the development of diagnostic tools to differentially detect pathogenic entamoebas (E. histolytica) of the non-pathogenic ones (E. dispar and E. moshkonskii). Both projects aim to improve treatments and control the transmission of these widely prevalent intestinal parasites that cause serious public health problems in developing countries.
Rópolo Laboratory
Dr. Andrea Rópolo
Dr. Andrea Rópolo is an Independent Researcher of the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) and Associate Professor of Human Histology at the National University of Córdoba. She received her PhD in Chemical Sciences in 2001 from the National University of Córdoba, Argentina. She carried out her post-doctoral studies at the Faculty of Medicine of the National University of Córdoba. Currently, she co-directs the Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology of the Ferreyra Institute in Córdoba, where she is carrying out studies on the intestinal parasite Giardia lamblia. During all these years she published many manuscripts related to Giardia biology using most advanced techniques, including biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, and bioinformatics. She has always been financed by different agencies including the Argentinian FONCYT, CONICET, and SECYT. Also, three doctoral students had obtained its Ph.D. under her direction and one doctoral student is currently performing their Ph.D. studies. Moreover, she directed three postdoctoral students.
Raimunda Laboratory
Dr. Daniel Raimunda
Dr. Daniel Raimunda graduated from the National University of Córdoba, Argentina, as Biochemist. He obtained his doctorate from the same institution in 2009 defending his thesis on studies of the metabolic regulation of the Sodium / Calcium squid transporter. Afterwards, he did his post- doctoral studies for three years with Dr. José M. Argüello in Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts, USA. There, his research focused on the functional roles of transition metal ATPases (PIB- ATPases ) in virulent bacterial organisms (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium smegmatis). Since 2012, as a CONICET investigator, he leads his lab which research has been focused in the roles of transition metal transporters of the Cation Diffusion Facilitator (CDF) family in pathogenic and beneficial bacteria. His actual and future work is directed towards i) the understanding of the structural determinants that confer the Fe2+, Mn2+ and Co2+ specificity to non-Zn-CDFs sub-groups and ii) gaining insights about the roles of transition metals in bacterial antibiotic resistance.