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I am a Cancerfonden Postdoctoral Fellow at Eduardo Villablanca Lab, in the
Department of Medicine, Solna.

I earned my Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry (DMD) degree from the University of 
Chile in 2017 and successfully defended my doctoral thesis in 2020. My thesis
focused on the immunogenicity and virulence of an oral pathobiont associated
with periodontitis. In 2018, I completed a ten-month internship at the
Karolinska Institute, working in Dr. Eduardo Villablanca's laboratory. During
my time there, I organized and raised funds for the Society for Mucosal
Immunology (SMI), which led to the first "Oral-gut symposium: Mucosal
immunity at the oral-gut axis in health or disease" held in January 2020 at
Fundación Ciencia y Vida in Santiago, Chile.

As a postdoctoral fellow, I have developed expertise in spatial
transcriptomics and proteomics, animal models of intestinal inflammation, and
the physiology and immunity of the oral mucosa and salivary glands. I have
also created novel tools to study the effects of intestinal disorders on the
upper gastrointestinal tract, including the oral, esophageal, and stomach
mucosa and associated organs. Upon completing my initial postdoctoral
training, I co-authored a study published in Immunity, which 
explored the role of B lymphocytes in intestinal mucosal regeneration.
I am currently spearheading my research, focusing on the consequences of 
intestinal disorders (i.e., inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer)
on oral homeostasis. My work combines my background in oral immunology and
microbiology with cutting-edge technology and tools developed and 
optimized in Dr. Villablanca's laboratory to study the mechanisms of
initiating and resolving intestinal disorders. I have successfully
secured funding for my research from The Osteology Foundation, Lars Hierta
Memorial Foundation, and Loo and Hans Osterman Foundation. Additionally, I
have been awarded a competitive and prestigious Postdoctoral Fellowship from
the Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden), which will support my salary for
the next three years.

My publishing record in the field of oral and intestinal immunology includes
nine articles as first author, two book chapters as first author, and 13
articles as co-authors.

Fellowships and Grants

• 2023. KI internal funding for : "Expanding the horizons of GI tract Immunology and Microbiology" (197 KSEK)
• 2023. European Crohn's and Colitis Organization (ECCO) Research Grant (920 KSEK)
• 2023. IADR Osteology Foundation in Oral Tissue
  Regeneration (795 KSEK)
• 2023. Swedish Society for Immunology (SWIMM) Travel Grant (6 KSEK)
• 2022. Travel Grant for assistance to Gordon Research Conference in
  Immunochemistry and Immunobiology, Barcelona, Spain.
• 2022. Cancerfonden (The Swedish Cancer Society) Postdoctoral Grant (2.1 MSEK)
• 2022. Karolinska Institute foundation Research Grant (109.7 KSEK)
• 2022. Lars Hierta Memorial Foundation Research Grant (50 KSEK)
• 2021. Loo and Hans Osterman Foundation Research Grant (150 KSEK)
• 2021. Osteology Young Researcher Grant (350 KSEK)
• 2018. Funding for PhD operational expenses from the Chilean Government.
• 2018. Travel grant for assistance to International Conference from the
  Chilean Government.
• 2018. Scholarship for 10 months Internship abroad (Sweden) from the
  Chilean Government.
• 2016. PhD fellowship ANID 21170297 from the Chilean Government (4 years
  salary)
• 2016. Travel grant for assistance to International Conference from the
  Chilean Government.

Extraintestinal manifestations of intestinal disorders, oral-gut axis, salivary glands physiology, and immunity.

Students’ supervision

2020 –Current
Eduardo Villablanca’s Laboratory, Immunology and Allergy Unit, Department of Medicine, Solna. Karolinska Institute.

• Summer School in Medical Research: Xenia Tolstoy (8 weeks, KI Summer School in Medical Research, Karolinska Institute, Sweden)
• Santander Scholarship for Internship in Medical Research within Europe: Valentina Olmedo (7 months, Bachelor Dentistry program, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile)
• Research Introductory Course for Bio̽����ѡ Students 3 (1QA120). Katarína Bankóová (8 weeks, Karolinska Institute, Sweden)
• Master’s degree: Laura Geerlings (8 months, Master internship Immunology, Bio̽����ѡ Sciences Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
• Summer School in Medical Research: Katarína Bankóová (8 weeks, KI Summer School in Medical Research, Karolinska Institute, Sweden)
  
  2018 – 2020

Periodontal Biology Lab. Dentistry Faculty, Universidad de Chile.

• Theses to obtain the Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry degree:
  • Claudia Arias Abarca. Thesis approved with the highest score (7.0). 2020.
  • Francisca Castillo Perez. Thesis approved with the highest score (7.0). 2019.
  • Jose Matias Guevara. Thesis approved with the highest score (7.0). 2018.
  • Victoria Budini Jorquera. Thesis approved with the highest score (7.0). 2018.
  • Juan Pablo Ibarra Torres. Thesis approved with the highest score (7.0). 2018