Mario Pujato, Ph.D.
PRESIDENT & FOUNDER
Fernando Herrera, Ph.D.
VICE-PRESIDENT
Mario Pujato, Ph.D.
PRESIDENT & FOUNDER
Fernando Herrera, Ph.D.
VICE-PRESIDENT
Dr. Pujato is an expert in bulk and single-cell genomic sequencing analysis, including gene expression and regulation like RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq and CUT&RUN/TAG, simple and multiplexed 10X and CITE-seq to detect surface protein expressions. He developed novel genetic algorithms, image processing and shape recognition, and automatic text interpretation using natural language processing techniques. Structural biology is another of his areas of interest. He has modeled antibodies binding to proteins and developed peptide inhibitors to tackle diseases.
Dr. Pujato received his M.Sc. in Biotechnology, studying the protein folding problem by exploiting various molecular modeling techniques. Pursuing a career in computational biology, he came to the United States and started his Ph.D. at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He combined structural and evolutionary biology to learn about the mechanisms of robustness to mutations in gene regulatory networks (GRN) by building genetic models and introducing molecular structures of transcription factors (TFs) into cellular and population models of GRNs. Profoundly interested in how mutation-causing diseases modified the binding of TFs, he joined the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) for postdoctoral training. He helped develop computational methods to derive insight into the molecular mechanisms of complex autoimmune diseases, like LUPUS, utilizing various next-generation sequencing (NGS) experimental data. Having gained enough experience in a broad array of computational techniques, he became the director of operations of the new bioinformatics core at CCHMC, building infrastructure that allowed the center to take on various projects. In the two years, he worked in the bioinformatics core. He enabled the successful completion of more than 40 projects by faculty and clinician researchers at CCHMC and the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Pujato later joined AstraZeneca’s Oncology Production Informatics. He continued creating new software for genetic fingerprinting analyses and more efficient processing of patient-derived xenograft genomic samples and learned scalable computing techniques like cloud computing. During his career, Dr. Pujato acquired expertise in multidisciplinary areas, covering molecular modeling, the creation of novel scientific software, scientific visualizations, analysis of NGS data (including single-cell technologies), and software automation. His goal is to continue to serve the scientific community with their computational needs, always in keeping with the highest standards. Dr. Pujato’s publications can be found here PubMed_Publications.
Dr. Herrera is an expert in protein sequence analysis and molecular modeling of three-dimensional protein structures. He has experience incorporating experimental data when docking small molecules or proteins to proteins and in molecular dynamics simulations. Dr. Herrera developed novel software to analyze complex trajectories from molecular dynamics simulations. This software allows the quantification of time-dependent surface fluctuations in biological membranes and the identification of specific regions of interactions in proteins. In the drug discovery area, Dr. Herrera not only dedicates himself to de novo drug design but also uses molecular docking techniques to find novel targets for known small molecules expanding their use to new disease indications.
Dr. Herrera received his M.Sc. in Biotechnology for studying amino acids’ atomic and electronic properties using ab-initio molecular simulations and a Ph.D. in Physics from the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste, Italy, where he became an expert in using atomic-level computer-simulated systems. Upon completing his Ph.D., Dr. Herrera moved to the Pasteur Institute in Montevideo, Uruguay, to apply his expertise to studying and simulating molecules embedded in cellular lipid bilayers or membranes. Dr. Herrera is an Assistant Professor at the Universidad Nacional del Litoral with appointments in both Physics and Physical Chemistry departments. His research focuses on understanding interactions of anti-metastatic agents with biological membrane receptors through computer-based simulations, the effects of mutations on the structural stability of proteins, and their relationship to diseases. Dr. Herrera’s publications can be found here PubMed_Publications.
