Career summary: I am a clinically trained infectious diseases physician and an ECR (1.5-year post PhD) investigating host determinants of severity and outcome of infectious diseases, irrespectively of the pathogen. I am well-versed in the broad diversity of skills required to conduct this study, including project management (protocol development, ethics, governance, data management and databasing), biospecimen handling and library preparation for Omic methods, analyses with large datasets, and diverse bioinformatic pipelines based on R or web-based servers. 

Translation and impact: My research focuses on translating experimental or cutting-edge methods into clinical practice. For example, I pioneered the molecular diagnosis of American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis (ATL), as evidenced by 57 citations by researchers in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa (Scopus). The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) adopted two approaches in their diagnosing and treating leishmaniasis guidelines. These experiences derived naturally into an interest in developing molecular-based point-of-care diagnostics, including a hand-held PCR device and next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach to identify atypical mycobacteria and dengue in Peru and Australia. My interests include biomarker discovery (>10 years) and broad, including molecular characterisation of pathogen determinants of severity or treatment failure, high-frequency ultrasound, and human genetic markers of disease severity.

Other contributions: I have participated as a biomedical lecturer in English and Spanish during the last 16 years, including undergraduate courses (genetics, immunology, pathology, and infectious diseases) and postgraduate courses (tropical diseases). This innate passion for lecturing is reinforced by my formal training, including the Foundations of University Learning and Teaching (FULT) program at UNSW and achieving recognition as AFHEA. Given my expertise in neglected tropical diseases, I have contributed to two technical reports in HTLV-1 (ISBN: 978-92-4-002022-1) and American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis (ISBN: 978-92-75-32191-1).