Latin American Microscopists - Chile

Chile

Chile has produced many distinguished scientists who have made significant contributions to the global scientific community. Of particular note is Marta Bunster, who is most well-known for her work in the fields of biochemistry, biophysics and crystallography, and Cecelia Hidalgo, a renowned biochemist who has made significant contributions to the understanding of cell signaling and the role of calcium in cell function.

One initiative that is very prominent is the Light-Sheet Imaging at Universidad Mayor (LiSIUM) Initiative, which acts as a Latin American light-sheet bioimaging hub. It has the only stream-lined model of light-sheet microscope in the region and works to help researchers build their own light-sheet systems. They also host light-sheet workshops, seminars and conferences to benefit a large host of researchers. In this blog, we hear from Chilean microscopists who have made distinguished contributions to microscopy in the context of ion channels, mechanosensing and novel methods of fluorescence microscopy.

An interview with Veronica Eisner

Posted by Mariana De Niz, on 13 June 2023

MiniBio: Dr. Veronica Eisner is a professor at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, where she leads a lab since 2015, focusing on mitochondrial dynamics and their link to physio pathological processes. In parallel, she is the Academic Director of the Advanced Microscopy Unit at the same University, and has been in multiple leadership roles of

An interview with Steffen Härtel

Posted by Mariana De Niz, on 24 January 2023

MiniBio: Prof. Steffen Härtel is a group leader at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile, where he leads the Laboratory of Scientific Image Processing (SCIAN-Lab). He is also founder of CEDAI SpA (Center of Internet Assisted Spermiograms), director of the Chilean Center for Digital Pathology (CPDAI), of the Center for Medical Informatics

An interview with Pablo J. Sáez

Posted by Mariana De Niz, on 17 January 2023

MiniBio: Dr. Pablo J. Sáez is a Professor at UniversitätsKlinikum Eppendorf (UKE), in Hamburg, Germany since 2020, where him and his lab study single and collective cell migration with a focus on immune cells. He was born in Chile and did his early career there. He did his BSc, MSc and PhD at Pontificia Universidad

An interview with Cristina Bertocchi

Posted by Mariana De Niz, on 10 January 2023

MiniBio: Dr. Bertocchi had a formal training in Biology during her undergraduate school in Italy at the University of Milan. She then moved to Innsbruck, Austria, where she embraced biophysics and obtained her Ph.D. from the Department of Physiology and Medical Physics (Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria) in2018. She then moved to Singapore for her

An interview with Karina Palma

Posted by Mariana De Niz, on 3 January 2023

MiniBio: Dr. Karina Palma is a postdoctoral researcher at LEO and SCIAN-Lab led by Miguel Concha and Steffen Härtel, at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, where she works at the frontier of Biology, Physics and Computer Science, all linked by Live Microscopy. She graduated as Veterinarian from Universidad Mayor, and worked in her

An interview with Jorge Toledo

Posted by Mariana De Niz, on 27 December 2022

MiniBio: Dr. Jorge Toledo is the director of the Advanced Microscopy Unit at Universidad de Chile. He has been heavily involved in multiple policies of scientific communication and outreach, as well as the democratization of microscopy and image analysis. He has spearheaded several initiatives both locally (in Chile) and regionally (in Latin America). Jorge did

An interview with Nelson Barrera

Posted by Mariana De Niz, on 20 December 2022

MiniBio: Dr. Nelson Barrera is an Associate Professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where his group combines ‘omics’ technologies and microscopy to study various aspects of membrane protein biology, structural biology, biophysics, and biochemistry. He is also a committee member of the Advanced Microscopy Unit, as well as the Mass Spectroscopy Unit. Nelson studied

An interview with Nicolás Martínez Alarcón

Posted by Mariana De Niz, on 13 December 2022

MiniBio: Dr. Nicolás Martínez Alarcón is a postdoctoral fellow at Fundación Ciencia y Vida, where he studies various aspects of the biology of neurodegeneration. Within the lab of Dr. Maria Soledad Matus, he is also a junior group leader co-mentoring various students and forming his independent research line. Nicolás did his early studies at the

An interview with Alenka Lovy

Posted by Mariana De Niz, on 27 November 2022

MiniBio: Dr. Alenka Lovy is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Integrative Biology (CIB) and in charge of LiSIUM, LightSheet Imaging at Universidad Mayor. where together with a team of researchers, she is introducing this novel platform to the Latin American region. Alenka is originally from the Czech Republic. She did her early studies

An interview with Luis Felipe Barros

Posted by Mariana De Niz, on 22 November 2022

MiniBio: Dr. Felipe Barros is currently a group leader at the Center for Scientific Studies CECs and Professor at Universidad San Sebastián, in Valdivia, Chile, where him and his group study the flux of energy within cells in the context of metabolism, using and developing novel methods of fluorescence microscopy. Felipe obtained his MD and