Gregorio Iraola, PhD

I am a scientist with more than 12 years working in the fields of microbiology, (meta)genomics, computational biology and data analysis for life sciences. I have vast experience in the study of bacterial and viral pathogens and the human and environmental microbiomes by integrating large-scale datasets generated by second and third-generation sequencing technologies with experimental and epidemiological data. I have gained and applied this expertise in prestigious academic research organizations such as the Institut Pasteur (Uruguay) or the Wellcome Sanger Institute (United Kingdom), and in the industry as co-founder of biotech startups or scientific advisor of international companies. Over the years I have developed leadership abilities establishing and coordinating large-scale international projects, which involved building new external strategic partnerships and collaborations, management of patient recruitment, sample collection, data generation, software development and analysis over different countries in coordination with local scientific teams from academic institutions and for-profit organizations. I have also been involved in establishing new labs focused on the translation and transfer of technologies derived from basic research activities into molecular biology and sequencing services. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic my work has been instrumental to develop and deploy the first real-time genomic surveillance program implemented at the national scale in Uruguay, which has informed on a regular basis to the national government about the introduction and local dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 variants. My expertise can contribute to generating new diagnostic approaches for infectious or non-communicable diseases, to understand epidemiological patterns of bacterial and viral infections and to identify biomarkers and genetic signatures in microbial communities to detect or treat pathogenic conditions. I am a self-motivated, strategic-thinker and problem-solving team player interested in expanding my professional horizons aiming to translate scientific advances into solutions that help sustainable human development while reducing global inequalities.