Science and Research

Facundo Mazzochi is a BA in Chemical Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). During his training, he participated in a research project focused on the theoretical-computational study of many-particle quantum systems. In addition, he had the opportunity to work as a teacher in physical chemistry courses at the undergraduate level at UBA. Currently, he seeks to explore the modeling of biological phenomena, applying the tools that he acquired in his training and incorporating new knowledge in this field.

Alejandro Cristófalo is a chemist from the University of Buenos Aires, where he graduated in 2015. He specialized in Organic Chemistry, obtaining his PhD from the same institution in 2020. His thesis focused on the synthesis of thiosugars and multivalent ligands, and the study of their interactions with target proteins. He was awarded the Best Organic Synthesis Thesis for 2019–2020 by the Argentinian Society of Research in Organic Chemistry and received a special mention within the Prof. Dr. Luis F. Leloir award to the best doctoral thesis in Chemistry in Argentina during 2020. Between 2021 and 2023, he shifted his research to structural biology during his postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for Protein Engineering and Redesign of the University of San Martín. He applied the Cryo-EM technique to investigate the interactions between COVID-19 and HUS key antigens and antibodies at the atomic level. This project was conducted in collaboration with the biotech company Inmunova. Throughout his career he has completed research stays abroad at the Glycosystems Laboratory, IIQ, Seville, Spain and the Molecular Microscopy Group, NIEHS, NIH, Durham, USA. He holds 10+ years of experience in university teaching and is currently serving as Head of Practical Classes in the Organic Chemistry Department at FCEyN-UBA.

Maria Emilia Mignone is set to graduate with a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Austral University in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2024. She is currently dedicated to a groundbreaking thesis on optimizing the Pose Rank Consensus (PRC) drug discovery method, aiming to enhance the precision of identifying potential therapeutic compounds. Alongside her academic pursuits, Emilia has developed significant expertise in data analysis, equipping her with the tools to innovate and excel in the evolving field of biomedical technology.

BSc. Nicolás Arrupe obtained his degree in chemistry from the National University of Mar del Plata in 2016. After beginning his PhD program in organic chemistry in 2017, he has combined organic, supramolecular, and computational chemistry with applied data analysis and modeling tools to create assays that enable the study of “Ligand-protein” binding events using fluorescent probes.
Since 2022 he began training in the area of data analysis and artificial intelligence in order to use these skills in both his doctoral thesis and his own financial market-focused projects.

Dr. Mariela Bollini is a Biochemist and Pharmacist who earned both her undergraduate degree and Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires, completing her doctorate in 2009. She then pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University, where she specialized in Computer-Aided Drug Discovery and Medicinal Chemistry. In 2013, she joined the CONICET Investigator Career and is now an Independent Investigator. She serves as Vice-Director of the Center for Bionanoscience Research (CIBION) and leads the Medicinal Chemistry Laboratory at CONICET. Her research focuses on developing antiviral entry inhibitors against a range of viruses, including dengue, Zika, bovine viral diarrhea, and chikungunya.

Valeria Scardino is a Bioengineer who earned her degree from the Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the Facultad de Cs Biomédicas at Austral University. Her thesis focuses on developing advanced computational methods for the identification of pharmacologically relevant compounds. Valeria has been involved in various projects that include the development of in silico methodologies for the consensus of docking programs and machine learning techniques applied to the early identification of toxic compounds.

María Justina Galarce is a Biomedical Engineering student set to graduate at the end of 2024 from Austral University. Since August 2023, she has been working at Meton AI as a biomedical engineer, where she focuses on her thesis research, optimizing a method known as PRC (“Pose/Ranking Consensus”), developed by the Meton group. With a solid background in biology and mathematics, Justina is driven by a passion for learning and a desire to improve lives through scientific innovation and computational drug development. Her journey has been shaped by deep academic, human, and religious values.

Juan Ignacio Di Filippo obtained his degree in Physical Sciences from the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), working in his thesis with the use of machine learning methods for the automated resolution of inverse problems in atomic physics. Since 2020, he has become a PhD student in Biomedical Sciences in Universidad Austral, implementing machine learning methods in the area of in silico drug discovery.

Dr. Alejandro Dana has a degree in Chemical Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires, where he also completed his Ph.D. with a CONICET scholarship in the field of Organic Chemistry. His academic training has been strongly focused on Organic Synthesis from bioactive natural products. Additionally, during his doctoral studies, he undertook a six-month paid internship at the CNRS in the Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles in Gif-sur-Yvette, France, where he specialized in synthetic methodologies using Rhodium catalysts. Since 2012, he has been a teacher in the Department of Organic Chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires, where he currently serves as Head of Practical Works.

M.SC. OF CHEMICAL SCIENCES
Between 2018 and 2023, she completed her degree in Chemical Sciences at UBA. During this period, she held the position of Second Assistant in the departments of Organic Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry at FCEN-UBA. In 2022, she began her work as a laboratory technician at Meton AI, a startup focused on drug discovery. She is working on her doctoral thesis, which is funded by Meton AI, titled ‘Development of Innovative Antivirals for the Control of Viral Diseases Transmitted by Mosquitoes.’ In 2024, she started teaching chemistry at ITBA as an ATP.

María Justina Galarce is a Biomedical Engineering student set to graduate at the end of 2024 from Austral University. Since August 2023, she has been working at Meton AI as a biomedical engineer, where she focuses on her thesis research, optimizing a method known as PRC (“Pose/Ranking Consensus”), developed by the Meton group. With a solid background in biology and mathematics, Justina is driven by a passion for learning and a desire to improve lives through scientific innovation and computational drug development. Her journey has been shaped by deep academic, human, and religious values.

Dr. Santiago Rómoli is a Chemical Engineer with a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering with a Clean Processes specialization from Universidad Nacional de San Juan. His research expertise focuses on control and state estimation in biotechnological processes. He has held significant roles in both academia and industry, including Quality and Innovation Leader at JLM Industria and Technology Transfer Officer at Universidad Austral. Dr. Rómoli completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional, Universidad Austral, where he worked on predicting compound selectivity using AI models.

Dr. Claudio Cavasotto, Principal Investigator, CONICET and scientific director Institute of Applied Artificial Intelligence, Universidad Austral.

Dr. Cavasotto is a specialist in computational simulation of biomacromolecules, computer-aided drug design and biomedical informatics. He earned his PhD in Physics, University of Buenos Aires, ​and concluded postdoctoral studies in computational biology and biophysics at The Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, California)

He is among the most prominent scientists in the world according to the ranking prepared by Stanford University, ranking in the top 0.4% in his specialty “Medicinal and Biomolecular Chemistry”. He has published more than 75 papers in leading scientific journals, and the book In Silico Drug Discovery and Design: Theory, Methods, Challenges, and Applications. Previously a Senior Researcher, MolSoft LLC (San Diego, CA), Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Informatics, University of Texas Health Science Center (Houston, TX).