Agrigenomics Staff
Principal Investigator
Claudio Meneses
Dr. Claudio Meneses is an accomplished Associate Professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile with a strong background in agricultural sciences and genomics research. He earned his Bachelor of Agriculture Sciences with a specialization in Horticulture from the Faculty of Agricultural Science at Universidad de Chile. In 2011, he completed his Doctorate in Systems Agriculture, Forestry, and Food from Lleida University and CRAG (UAB-UB-IRTA-CSIC). Over the course of the past decade, Dr Meneses has served as a Professor and Principal Investigator in the Plant Genetic and Genomic Lab in the Center for Plant Biotechnology. Currently, he leads the Agrogenomics Lab at the FAIF/FCB at PUC and is the Principal Investigator of the Millennium Nucleus for the Development of Super Adaptable Plants (MN-SAP). Dr Meneses' research interests focus on identifying candidate genes and molecular markers associated with abiotic stress tolerance and fruit quality traits in crops such as peach, grape, sweet cherry, and avocado. To achieve this, he employs various omics data integration strategies, including DNA-Seq, RNA-seq, and Whole Genome Bisulphite-seq.
Lab Manager
PhD Student
PhD Student
Bioinformatician
MSc Student
Victoria Lillo
Victoria is currently serving as a Lab Manager and Research Support at the Agrogenomics Lab, FAIF/FCB, PUC. She holds a degree in Biotechnology Engineering and a Master's degree in Biotechnology from Universidad Andrés Bello. With a strong background in plant biotechnology, Victoria has several years of experience working with fruit trees in various research and development projects. She previously worked as a technician in quality control and pesticide analysis for export fruit trees at Corthorn Quality Chile S.A. Additionally, she worked in the laboratory of physiology and genetics of fruit trees from 2015 to 2018 in the Center of Plant Biotechnology. Victoria has also worked in the genetics and genomics laboratory of fruit trees at Universidad Andrés Bello from 2018 to 2021. Her research interests include plant physiology, metabolomics, genomics of fruit trees, and techniques in plant molecular biology and chromatography.
Paula Sandoval
Paula Sandoval Belmar is a dedicated PhD student in biotechnology at Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB) and an active member of the Agrigenomics Lab at the FAIF/FCB at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC). She holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology (2018) and a Master's degree in Biotechnology and Life Science (2020) from UNAB. Between 2018 and 2020, Paula focused on analyzing differentially methylated regions associated with chilling hours accumulation, cold tolerance, and detection of low temperatures during the dormancy of floral buds in Prunus avium. Currently, she is conducting her doctoral research, where she aims to unravel the role of DNA methylation on gene expression during fruit development and its impact on the maturity date (MD) in Prunus persica. Through the integration of transcriptomic and epigenomic approaches, Paula's research will deepen our understanding of epigenetic control mechanisms underlying MD in peach trees.
Patricio Tapia
Patricio Tapia is a biotechnologist who graduated from the Universidad de Antofagasta (Chile). He also holds a master's degree in Computer Engineering from the Universidad Católica del Norte. Previously, he worked as a bioinformatician at the Center for Genome Regulation, where he gained expertise in the assembly and annotation of non-model plant genomes. Patricio is proficient in several programming languages, including R, Python, Java, and C++. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology at Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile). His research focuses on the development of computational tools to understand the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying plant stress responses.
Aníbal Riveros
Anibal Riveros is a bioinformatician in the Agrigenomics Lab at the FAIF/FCB at PUC and Millennium Nucleus for developing Super Adaptable Plants (MN-SAP). He is a graduate Biotechnology Engineer with a Master Degree from Universidad Andrés Bello. He started his career in projects dedicated to analysing genomic data with emphasis on RNA-Seq in the Center of regulation genomes (CRG). The path of bioinformatics has taken him on a cross-disciplinary journey in different organisms, from intestinal parasites to fruit trees, contributing to generating de novo transcriptomes in non-model organisms. Aníbal has a professional vision to maximise the value of the data.
Valentina Torrejón
Valentina Torrejón has a degree in Biotechnology and is a Master student in Biotechnology and Life Sciences at Universidad Andrés Bello. Currently, she is on a thesis project with Dra. Susana Sáez and Dr Claudio Meneses at the Catholic University facilities. Her interest focuses on molecular and cellular biology in the plant area to propose improvements, solutions and new alternatives to scientific problems.
José Zabala
Zabala is an undergraduate student studying Biotechnology Engineering at the Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB) and is an active member of the Agrigenomics Lab at the FAIF/FCB at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC). He is currently engaged in his degree project, which aims to qualify him for the title of Biotechnology Engineer, by identifying key transcription factors involved in fruit development in Prunus persica.
Biotechnology Student
PhD Student
Phillip Ormeño
Phillip Ormeño Vásquez is an accomplished scholar with a diverse educational background. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology (2014) and a title of Biologist (2016) from Universidad San Luis Gonzaga de Ica (Perú). He also has a Master's degree in Educational Sciences (2020) with a focus on research and advanced teaching from Universidad de Huancavelica (Perú). Currently, Phillip is pursuing his PhD in Plant Biotechnology at Universidad Pontificia Católica de Chile (PUC), where he is a member of the Agrigenomics Lab at the FAIF/FCB. Phillip's doctoral scholarship from the Bicentennial Generation program of the Ministry of Education from Perú is a testament to his outstanding academic excellence and potential. His research interests lie in the field of plant biotechnology, where he has demonstrated expertise and a passion for exploring innovative solutions to real-world challenges. With his diverse educational background and research experience, Phillip is a driven and accomplished individual with a promising future ahead of him.
Elisa Villamizar
Elisa Villamizar is an ambitious PhD student in Vegetal Biotechnology at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC). She is a member of both the Agrigenomics Lab and the Tissue Culture Lab, located at the FCB/FAIF at PUC. Elisa obtained her Bachelor's degree in Biology in 2019 from Universidad de Carabobo, Venezuela. During her undergraduate studies, she developed a regeneration system for various plants of agronomic interest while working at the Plant Biotechnology laboratory from 2018 to 2021. Currently, as part of her doctoral research, Elisa seeks to characterize the effects of ploidy on the development and fruit quality of red raspberry varieties (Rubus ideaus). Specifically, she aims to understand the transcriptional reprogramming that is regulated by different levels of ploidy. With her expertise and research experience in the field of plant biotechnology, Elisa is a dedicated and knowledgeable individual who is sure to make significant contributions to the scientific community in the future.
PhD Student
Luis Guzman
Luis is a biochemist who graduated from Universidad Austral de Chile and is pursuing a PhD in Plant Biotechnology at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. During his professional career, Luis worked at the AUSTRAL-omics genomics laboratory, providing sequencing services, which gave him extensive experience in NGS methodologies and where he works as NGS Specialist. Luis is part of the Agrigenomics Lab at the FAIF/FCB. It is interested in using genomics and bioinformatics tools to research and develop biotechnological advances for the agricultural industry
PhD Student
Martín Pincheira
Martín Pincheira Palma is a biochemist who graduated from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC). During his undergraduate research, he focused on Arabidopsis root development under stress. He has also worked on producing and purifying several human saliva proteins to test their interactions with tannins found in wine. Currently, he is working on constructing various RNA libraries for RNA-seq at the Agrigenomics Lab.