Researchers
María Fernanda Cardinal,
Associate researcher CONICET
Researchgate profile
fcardinal@unsam.edu.ar
Adjunct professor at the National University of San Martin. Together with Gastón Corthey, she is starting a new Laser lab at the INS. She obtained her Bachelor degree in Chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina; her PhD degree from the University of Vigo, Spain; and was a postdoctoral fellow at the group of Prof. Richard Van Duyne, at Northwestern University, USA, where she studied glucose, catalysts, and dye molecules sensing with surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Her research is focused on the synthesis and functionalization of nanoparticles for catalytic, sensing and medical applications. Her academic interests include lecturing in nanotechnology and chemistry courses, and the development of educational kits to reach low income schools and colleges.
Cintia Belén Contreras,
CONICET Assistant Researcher
PhD in Chemistry from the National University of Córdoba. She was a postdoctoral fellow at INS-UNSAM, under Dr. Galo Soler Illia supervision and Dr. Omar Azzaroni. She did research stays at Cornell University and Georg-August-University Göttingenat. She works in the project design and synthesis of hybrid smart nanovectors organic-inorganic for drug transport. Published 13 papers in international magazines, obtained prizes and scholarships fromo Fulbright Program and the American Chemical Society. She works in UNSAM as teacher assistant.
Gastón Corthey,
Associate researcher CONICET
Researchgate profile
gcorthey@unsam.edu.ar
Leads the Optics Laboratory and the Max Planck Partner Group for Structural Dynamics at INS. He studied chemistry at the National University of La Plata where he also obtained a PhD working at The Research Institute of Theoretical and Applied Physical Chemistry. For his PhD thesis, he received the Ducloux Prize of the Asociación Argentina de Química and mentions in the Prize for Young Chemists of the IUPAC and in the Prof. Hans J. Schumacher prize of the Asociación Argentina de Investigación Fisicoquímica. He was a postdoctoral fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at Prof. R. J. Dwayne
Miller´s group of the Max Planck Institute for The Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany.
Julián Gargiulo,
CONICET Assistant Researcher
Degree and PhD in Physics from the University of Buenos Aires. He specializes in optical microscopy and spectroscopy techniques for the study of problems at the nanoscale. Winner of the Giambiagi Award 2018 for the best PhD Thesis in Experimental Physics 2016-2017 and the INNOVAR award 2017 for the development of an optical printing platform for metallic and semiconductor nanoparticles. Julian was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at Imperial College London, UK, and a Humboldt Fellow at Ludwig Maximiliam Universität in Munich, Germany.
Estefanía González Solveyra,
CONICET Assistant Researcher and Professor at ECyT-UNSAM
Bachelor's and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires. During her PhD, she worked on the development of nanomaterials, combining multiscale molecular modeling tools with experimental synthesis and characterization methods. She completed her postdoctoral research in the group of Prof. Igal Szleifer (Northwestern University), focusing on theoretical and computational tools to study multifunctional nanosystems. Currently, her research focuses on theoretical modeling of nanomaterials, with an emphasis on physicochemical aspects of the nano-interface.
Diego Pallarola,
Associate researcher CONICET
Researchgate profile
dpallarola@unsam.edu.ar
Since 2016 he leads the Advanced Biosensors Laboratory and the Max Planck Partner Group Nanoelectronics for Cellular Interfaces at the INS. Studied chemistry and obtained a PhD degree at the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). He carried out postdoctoral studies at the Theoretical and Applied Physical Chemistry Research Institute (Argentina) and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (Germany). His research interests are focused on the development of highly sensitive label-free optical and electrochemical devices for bioanalytical and biomedical applications. He has published more than 20 papers, and received national and international recognitions.
Jimena Rinaldi,
CONICET Adjunct Researcher
She graduated in Biological Sciences from the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires in 2003. She completed her PhD in 2009 under the supervision of Dr. Silvia Moreno de Colonna in the Department of Biological Chemistry from the same Faculty. During her PhD she did several stays at the University of California San Diego. In 2009 she joined Fernando Goldbaum´s laboratory at the Leloir Institute Foundation first as a Postdoc, and then as an Associate Researcher. Her work focuses on the structural, functional and mechanistic study of photoreceptor sensing and its biotechnological applications.
Marina Simian,
Independent researcher CONICET
Researchgate profile
msimian@unsam.edu.ar
She is the team leader at the Nanobiology Laboratory. Has a Biology Sciences PhD in the University of Buenos Aires and also a doctoral working at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in the United States. She is specialized in novel breast cancer treatment, combining traditional drugs and nanotechnology. She published 29 papers and received awards from national institutions like Accésit Leon Cherny 2013 and international
foundations like Susan G. Komen and Avon Foundation, among others.
Galo Soler Illia,
Principal researcher CONICET
Researchgate profile
gsoler-illia@unsam.edu.ar
Studied Chemistry (MSc and PhD) at Buenos Aires University, and completed a postdoc at University Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Paris. He worked as a CONICET researcher at the Argentine Atomic Energy Commission for more than 10 years. He has published more than 145 papers in reviewed journals, which received more than 10.000 citations (h=46), and filed four patents. He has published science dissemination books about chemistry and nanotechnology, and leads national and international projects with research groups and companies. He designs and produces new nanosystems with intelligent architectures and custom properties using chemical methods inspired by Nature, with applications in chemical reactors, sensors, and optics.
Mariana Tasso,
CONICET Adjunct researcher
Materials engineer at the Sábato Institute. She completed her PhD in Germany in the field of surface physicochemistry and the development of interfaces with antifouling properties. She completed two postdocs in Boston (USA) and Paris (France), where she worked in microfluidics for the isolation of progenitor cells for applications in tissue engineering and proteomics, and using quantum dots for immunolabeling and single particle tracking. After her time at INIFTA, she joined INS-UNSAM. She is interested in a diverse group of nanomaterials, both for theranostic and sensing applications, in cell-nanomaterial interactions, and in the evaluation of nano-toxicity.
Ianina Violi,
CONICET Adjunct Researcher
Researchgate profile
Degree and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires. She specializes in the synthesis and characterization of mesoporous thin films with applications in catalysis and photovoltaic devices. Her PhD thesis received a special mention from the Hans J. Schumacher Award in the 2015 - 2016 biennium. She did her postdoc in the Applied Nanophysics group at CIBION - CONICET and with her team won the INNOVAR 2017 award for the development of an optical printing platform for metallic and semiconducting nanoparticles. She has published 17 articles in international journals and has presented her work at more than 40 national and international conferences.
Fellows
Juan Devida
PhD in Chemistry from the National University of La Plata. Has also a Biotechnology and Molecular Biology degree. Teaching assistant at Faculty of Sciences in UNLP. He is doing his postdoctoral research under the supervision of Dr. Diego Pallarola and co-supervision of Dr. Lisandro Giovanetti with a CONICET fellowship. His research focuses on the design, characterization, and development of biosensing platforms based on gold nanowires for the detection of clinically relevant microRNAs.
Melissa Mendez Galván
Physicist with a master's degree with honorable mention and a doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She is currently doing a postdoctoral stay with a scholarship CONICET in the nanostructured materials group of INS UNSAM.
Wendy Rondón
Venezuelan Chemist from the University of Los Andes (ULA, MsC. and PhD. in Analytical Chemistry) with a FONACIT scholarship. University professor at the UDO and ULA. Associate Researcher II at the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research, postdoctoral student and Head of the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory. She published more than 13 articles in international magazines. She carried out her postdoctoral degree with an ANPCyT scholarship framed in the PICT project “Design of plasmonic nanocatalysts for their application in organic synthesis” directed by Dr. Galo Soler-Illia.
PhD students
Ayelén Arias
Has a degree in Chemical Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires and a postgraduate in Environmental Engineering from the National Technological University. Supervised by Dra. Cardinal, Dra. Violi, and Dr. Gargiulo; she is working on developing a plasmonic substrate for detecting organic pollutants in water, assisted by machine learning. During her project, she completed a research stay at CICbiomaGUNE, Spain, and was awarded to participate in scientific exchange at CNPEM, Brazil.
Fiona Britto
Degree in Chemical Engineering from the National University of La Plata. Guided by Galo Soler Illia, she is working on the optimization and scale-up of the production of
nanoporous particles. During her undergraduate studies, she was awarded with a
scholarship to study in France and also carried out research internships in Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory and IFP Energies nouvelles in France.
María de los Ángeles Cabrera Molina
Graduated in Biotechnology from UNC. She completed her degree thesis at the Center of Excellence in Products and Processes of Córdoba (CEPROCOR), in order to develop in vitro models for the preclinical evaluation of new nanomedicines. Through the AFORS project, she began her doctorate on the topic Design and preparation of a platform for intelligent multifunctional hybrid nanosystems with amplified signals.
Sol Fernandez
Chemical Engineer from the National Technological University. She is currently carrying out her doctoral thesis at the Institute of Industrial Quality (INCALIN) under the direction of Dr. Gustavo Giménez of the Department of Micro and Nano Manufacturing of the INTI and the co-direction of Dr. Galo Soler Illia. Her thesis is based on the development of electrochemical sensors based on mesoporous thin films.
Betania García
Degree in Chemistry from Universidad de Los Andes (Venezuela), where she received a Study Scholarship and worked as a Teaching Assistant in Analytical Chemistry II. She also served as a Researcher at CITEC-ULA. Currently, she is pursuing her Ph.D. with a CONICET Scholarship, under the supervision of Dr. Diego Pallarola (INS-UNSAM) and co-supervision of Dr. Vanesa Herlax (INIBIOLP-UNLP). Her research focuses on the development of nanomaterials for preventing bacterial infections in bone implants, as well as diagnostic methods for detecting uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC).
Cristina Mina
Nanotechnology Engineer from Yachay Tech University (Urcuquí-Ecuador). During her university studies she was part of the GAR-VIII High Performance Group, and obtained a scholarship during that period. She currently works in the Nanoarchitectures group, under the direction of Dr. Ianina Violi, Dr. Galo Soler Illia and Dr. Julián Gargiulo.
Addys Nuñez Garbizo
Graduate in Microbiology from the University of Havana, Cuba (2017). She completed her doctorate under the direction of Dr. Jimena Rinaldi and the co-direction of Dr. Lisandro Otero, of the Center for Protein Redesign and Engineering, of the School of Nano and Biotechnology, UNSAM. Her thesis focuses on the study of the molecular bases of red light sensing in Rhizobium leguminosarum. The objective is to study the role of the red light receptor of R. leguminosarum from a biological and structural point of view.
Agustín Pizarro
Chemical Engineer from the National University of Comahue. He carried out his doctoral thesis under the direction of Dr. Martin Bellino (CNEA) and Dr. Galo Soler Illia. He works on the development of intelligent microfluidic systems based on the integration of nanofunctional mesoporous films. During his undergraduate studies he received EVC-CIN and Friends of Fulbright scholarships. He also works as an undergraduate teacher and is a member of the NGO Expedition Ciencia.
Paola Rojo
Senior conservator-restorer in easel painting, graduate and professor in Arts (UNA). His doctoral research “Design of hybrid nanomaterials as a solution for the chemical-mechanical degradation mechanisms of burlap as a support for modern painting: Between Paris and Buenos Aires” with a double degree for the Doctorate in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Assets of the University Polytechnic of Valencia (CRBC-UPV) and the Doctorate in Science and Technology, Chemistry mention from UNSAM.
Alejandra Ross Beraldi
Graduated in Chemistry Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires, where she has been an assistant teacher too. As a student, she received a grant for a short stay at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain. PhD Student under Dr. Diego Pallarola supervision, she develops DNA based sensors for early medical diagnosis. In 2018 she worked in her thesis in the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, in Stuttgart.
Nicole Seinhart
Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Buenos Aires. Guided by Galo Soler Illia and Cintia Belen Contreras, focusing on Advanced Nanomaterials for Bionic Energy Harvesting for Use in Rescue Patrols During Emergencies. She won the "Cientificas que Cuentan" prize and completed PhD stays at KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany, and the University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
Ana Laura Tohmé
Materials Engineer graduated from the National University of La Plata. She is pursuing her doctorate at INS under the supervision of Dr. Diego Pallarola and Dr. Pablo Schwarbaum, with an ANPCyT scholarship as part of a PICT project. Her research focuses on the development of microfluidic biosensors for the study of erythrocyte adhesion. During her doctorate, she completed two research stays at University of Glasgow and one at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany.
Iskra Zambrano
Physics from the Yachay Tech University of Ecuador. She spent a stay at the Center for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology at UNAM, Mexico. For her degree thesis, he published a publication. She received the award for the best poster at the YES-Light OSA-EC Optics Dissemination Conference and third place in the nanoscience dissemination contest of Nanoandes Perú 2020. She works under the direction of Dr. José Hodak and Dr. Estefanía González Solveyra.
Michael Zuarez
Biotechnology Engineer from the Ikiam Amazon Regional University (Tena, Ecuador). He carried out a research stay at the Institute of Applied Nanotechnology of Mexico. He has worked on several national and international projects focused on water remediation using photocatalytic semiconductor materials, resulting in 4 publications in international scientific journals. Associate researcher of the Integrated Water Resources Management research group at Ikiam University in 2022.
Undergraduate students
Santiago Amigo
Biotechnology student at Escuela de Bio y Nanotecnologías, National University of San Martin (IIB-EBYN_UNSAM)
Lourdes Franco
Biology student at University of Buenos Aires
Juana Goldschmidt
Biology student at Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)
Gastón Grosman
Physics student at University of Buenos Aires
Abril Pereyra
Physics student at University of Buenos Aires
Valentina Sabate
Biotechnology student at Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE)
Valentín Exequiel Salari & Iñaki Gonzalez Vandam
Physics students at University of Buenos Aires
Guido Scarpati
Biotechnology student at Escuela de Bio y Nanotecnologías, National University of San Martin (IIB-EBYN_UNSAM)
Technical coordination
Mara Alderete
Knowledge and technological transfer (KTT) manager
Biotechnologist from National University of Tucuman, obtained an MBA in Administration from UADE and a specialization in Technology and Innovation Management from UNSAM. She leads knowledge and technology transfer area; writes and evaluates technological projects. She also manages Hybridon, a spin-off that develops new technologies to prevent infection and contamination. In 2018, she won the SINAPTEC competition, sponsored by the Buenos Aires City Goverment and, consenquently visited Israel.
malderete@unsam.edu.ar
Martín Gambarotta
Electronic engineer from the University of Buenos Aires. In addition to working as a laser laboratory technician, he is part of the technology-based company TECSCI. There he carries out software and hardware design and implementation tasks on research equipment in the field of nanotechnology.
Marian Gonzalez
Bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Instituto de Tecnología Federico Rivero Palacios, Caracas, Venezuela. She did research on zeolites at the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA-Intevep. She is currently working as a technical assistant in the Development and Linkage Laboratory.
María Amparo Lago Huvelle
Nanobiology Lab Coordinator
PhD in Biological Chemistry and a degree in Biological Sciences from University of Buenos Aires. She received a fellowship to promote undergraduate research (2010), a CONICET internal fellowship (2012) and a Boehringer Ingelheim Travel Grant to perform a short stay in the Charité- Universitätsmedizin Berlin (2015).
She is a teaching assistant in undergraduate courses at the UBA since 2011 and participated in exhibitions in more than 20 national and international congresses.
mlago@unsam.edu.ar
Olivia Maceira
Technician specialized in chemistry. Currently she is studying Chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires. She is in charge of the execution of the equipment from the analysis and characterization laboratory.
omaceira@unsam.edu.ar
Hernán Prypztejn
Degree in Chemical Sciences from the Faculty of Science of University of Buenos Aires (FCEyN-UBA) and Chemical Technician from the Otto Krause Technical School. He worked at Trace Analysis Laboratory of the INQUIMAE-FCEN-UBA and also in different private laboratories as Analyst, Supervisor, Co-Technical Director and Technical Director. He has experience in analytical chemistry and in quality management. He also served as a professor in the Department of Inorganic, Analytical and Physical-Chemistry of the Faculty of Science (UBA) and in the Department of Chemistry of the Faculty of Engineering (UBA).
