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URV

Laura Andrea Uribe Uribe

PhD Programme: Nanoscience, Materials and Chemical Engineering
Research group: NBG – Group of Nanobiotechnology and Bioanalysis
Supervisor: Alex Fragoso Sierra

Bio

Laura Uribe received her bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Los Andes (Bogota, Colombia) where her thesis about the development of a radar absorbent coating using nanoferrites earned her a laurate qualification. During her BSc she was an intern at Henkel where she worked in the R&D laboratory of the adhesive's division. She holds a MSc in Nanoscience, Materials and Processes from University Rovira i Virgili where she first joined Interfibio Research Group under the supervision of Professor Ciara O'Sullivan and Dr Mayreli Ortiz. Her master's thesis was a novel approach of next generation sequencing using electrochemical techniques, that were used to detect genetic markers related to predisposition to certain diseases. The work was published in the Biosensors and Bioelectronics Journal. After her master she joined Sika, a multinational company of the chemical industry for a Trainee program based in Brazil, which strengthened her industrial and international experience. Nowadays she's working as a PhD student back at URV's Research Group of Nanobiotechnology and Bioanalysis, and she is part of the project Ciguasensing in collaboration with IRTA (Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology of Catalonia).

Project: Cyclodextrin-based supramolecular systems of emerging guests with pharmaceutical and environmental interest

The aim of the present thesis is to study and characterize the molecular interactions between cyclodextrins (CDs) or cyclodextrin-based materials with emerging guest molecules such as drugs or toxins of industrial interest. Overall, the presented thesis has contributed to expand the current knowledge on the use of CDs for pharmaceutical and environmental applications. The studies of characterization unveiled the mechanisms of CD inclusion complexes with serine protease inhibitor nafamostat mesylate and veratridine neurotoxin and constitute the first reports in the literature of CD interactions with these emerging guests. Furthermore, the synthesis and characterization of CD-NS with English different anhydride crosslinkers broadens the current state of the art on CD-based polymeric materials and represents a potential novel use of CD-NS as passive adsorbers for marine toxins.

Open Access publications

International secondment

  • Aalborg University, Applied Supramolecular Chemistry Group, Denmark. 6 months (2021).
  • IRTA - Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Spain. 1 month (2021).

Awards & Prizes

  • 1st place Best poster award: International Cyclodextrin Symposium, Sicily 2022
  • 3rd prize in the "Best Poster Awards" in the 16th Doctoral Day of the Doctoral Programme in Nanoscience, Materials and Chemical Engineering.

Outreach activities

  • URV Summer Lab, 2019: STEM workshop for middle school students. 
  • Experimenta Challenge, 2019: Scientific godmother for middle school students. 

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