Africa Holguin – human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- Women Researcher Award

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Africa Holguin – human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- Women Researcher Award

Dr. Africa Holguin distinguished academic and researcher in the field Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). She is the Head of the HIV-1 Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory, affiliated with the Microbiology Department at Hospital Ramón y Cajal in Madrid and the Ramón y Cajal Health Research Institute (IRYCIS). As the leader of numerous national and international research projects, she secures funding from both public and private sources, oversees budget administration, and provides the essential expertise and leadership skills to guide and train her team successfully. She has authored over 150 scientific papers in international journals, often serving as the first or last author. Her research group collaborates with national partners and international public health agencies, focusing on well-established pediatric and adult populations across various countries. For more details on her publications, see her Google Scholar profile.

 

🌐 Professional Profile

Educations📚📚📚

She holds a Doctorate in Molecular Biology from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, earned in 1996, and a Licentiate in Biological Sciences with a specialization in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the same university, completed in 1991. In 2011, she completed the “BIOCAMPUS 2011” Bioentrepreneurship training program, comprising 280 hours, organized by Fundación Genoma España. Additionally, she has undertaken more than 400 hours of training in leadership skills, human resources management, teamwork, coaching, leadership, negotiation, and strategy through various public courses organized by the Instituto de Administración Pública de Madrid (MAP) and the Dirección General de Función Pública de la Comunidad de Madrid.

Research Experiences

She is currently an Investigadora Titular del Sistema Nacional de Salud and the head of the HIV Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory at IRYCIS, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, in Madrid, a position she has held since 2022. Her career includes various roles, starting as a Becaria de Colaboración del MEC at the Centro de Biología Molecular “Severo Ochoa,” CSIC, in Spain from 1989 to 1990. She then served as a predoctoral fellow at the same institution from 1990 to 1996 and a visiting predoctoral researcher at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, in 1995. From 1996 to 2000, she was a postdoctoral fellow funded by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (FIS) at Hospital Carlos III in Madrid. In 1997, she also worked as a visiting postdoctoral researcher at the Georg-Speyer-Haus Institute in Frankfurt, Germany. From 2000 to 2008, she was an investigator at the Sistema Nacional de Salud, Hospital Carlos III. Since 2006, she has been a stabilized investigator at the Fundación para la Investigación Sanitaria del Hospital Ramón y Cajal in Madrid.

Activities of technology / knowledge transfer and results exploitation

  • Actualmente la Unidad de Innovación del Instituto para la Investigación Sanitaria (IRYCIS)
    del Hospital Ramón y Cajal de Madrid está valorando la mejor vía de protección de unos
    aptámeros que reconocen específicamente regiones altamente conservadas de varias
    proteínas del VIH para una futura aplicación diagnóstica.
  • La Dra. Holguín es autora al 40% del programa BioInformático EpiMolBIo (Registro
    2305114294344 en SAFE CREATIVE S.L, 11-5-2023) para analizar secuencias genéticas
    de patógenos y de genes/proteínas de interés biomédico. Con él se analizó la conservación
    de la región de las 5 proteínas del virus usadas para seleccionar los aptámeros anti VIH
    de este proyecto (PMID:35495642, 35694284, 35910645, 33586996), y para estudiar la
    evolución del SARS-CoV-2 en España (PMID:35742840) y mundo (PMID:33557213)
📝🔬Publications📝🔬

1. Scientific paper. Valadés-Alcaraz, A.; Reinosa, R.; González-Hevilla, M.; Medina-Sánchez,
C.; Martín, M. A.; (6/6) Holguín, A. (AC). 2024. Development and characterization of
High-Affinity Aptamers for HIV Protease Detection. (Submitted).Nucleic Acids Research
(Open Acess). (JIF: 14.9, Decil 1 – 10/285, JCR 2022).

2. Scientific paper. Reinosa, R.; Troyano-Hernáez, P.; Valadés-Alcaraz, A.; (4/4) Holguín, A.
(AC). 2024. EpiMolBio: A Novel User-Friendly Bioinformatic Program for Genetic Variability
Analysis. (Submitted).Bioinformatics (Open Access). (JIF: 5.8, Q1 – 24/158 in Bioechnology
& applied Microbiology, JCR 2022).

3. Scientific paper. Rodríguez-Galet, A.; Ventosa-Cubillo, J.; Bendomo, V.; et al; (9/9)
Holguín, A. (AC). 2024. HIV Diagnosis in Equatorial Guinea. Keys to reduce the diagnostic
and therapeutic delay. (Submitted). Journal of Infection and Public Health (Open Acess).
(JIF: 6.7, Q1 – 18/96 in Infectious Diseases, JCR 2022).

4. Scientific paper. Martínez De Aguirre, P.; Carlos, S.; Pina-Sánchez, M.; et al; Reina,
G.; (8/9) Holguín, A.2024. High pre-Delta and early-Omicron SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence
detected in dried blood samples from Kinshasa (D.R.Congo) (In press).Journal of Medical
Virology (Open Access). (JIF: 12.7, Decil 1 – 2/36, JCR 2022).

5. Scientific paper. Rodríguez-Galet, A.; Ventosa-Cubillo, J.; Eyene, M.; et al; (9/9) Holguín,
A. (AC). 2024. Immunity to six vaccine pathogens in HIV+ and HIV- children in Bata city,
Equatorial Guinea. (In press). Vaccines (Open Acess). (JIF: 7.8, Q1- 24/136 in Medicine,
Research & Experimental, JCR 2022).

6. Scientific paper. Epalza, C.; Valadés-Alcaraz, A.; González-Alba, J.M.; et al; (14/14)
Holguín, A. (AC). 2024. Transmitted Drug Resistance and HIV Diversity Among
Adolescents Newly Diagnosed With HIV in Spain.The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal
(Open Acess). (JIF: 3.6, Q1 – 23/130 in Pediatrics, JCR 2022).43, pp.40-48. PMID:
37922511. https://doi.org/10.1097/INF.0000000000004138

7. Scientific paper. Mbuagbaw L; Garcia C; Brenner B; et al; Jordan, M.R.; (7/15)
Holguin, A.2023. Checklist for studies of HIV drug resistance prevalence or
incidence: rationale and recommended use.The Lancet HIV (Open Access). (JIF:
16.1, Decil 1 – 6/96 in Infectious Diseases, JCR 2022). 10, pp.e684-e689. PMID:
37716367. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-3018(23)00173-X

8. Scientific paper. Ventosa-Cubillo, J.; Pinzón, R.; González-Alba, J.M.; Estripeaut, D.;
Navarro, M.L.; (6/6) Holguín, A. (AC). 2023. Drug resistance in children and adolescents
with HIV in Panama.The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (Open Access). (JIF:
5.2, Q1- 55/278 in Pharmacology & Pharmacy

Amy Vincent – Neuromuscular disease Award – Best Researcher Award

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Amy Vincent – Neuromuscular disease Award – Best Researcher Award

Dr. Amy Vincent distinguished academic and researcher in the field Neuromuscular Disease. She has held various academic appointments, starting as a PhD student at Newcastle University’s Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research from September 2013 to May 2017, where she investigated the pathogenesis of mitochondrial dysfunction in mitochondrial and other myopathies. Following this, she continued her research as a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the same institution until June 2019, before being awarded the Sir Henry Wellcome Post-doctoral Fellowship, a position she held until June 2023. During her fellowship, she delved deeper into mitochondrial research at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research. Currently, she serves as an Academic Track Fellow at Newcastle University’s Translational and Clinical Research Institute, a position she has held since July 2023. Additionally, she expanded her academic horizons with a brief stint as a Visiting Research Scholar at Dr. Picard’s lab, Columbia University Medical Centre, Columbia University, New York, USA, in July 2016 to September 2016. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to advancing understanding in the field of mitochondrial research.

🌐 Professional Profiles

Educations📚📚📚

She has demonstrated her commitment to academic mentorship through her supervision of MRes and PhD students. Notably, she supervised Alexandra Urquart, who completed her MRes in 2023 at Newcastle University, and Max Piotrowicz, who completed his MRes in 2021 at the CDT Newcastle University. As a main supervisor, she guided several PhD candidates to successful completions, including Dr. Charlotte Warren in 2019 under the MRC program, Dr. Julie Faitg in 2021 under Wellcome, and Dr. Valeria Di Leo in 2022, also under Wellcome. Currently, she oversees the progress of Dr. Tiago Gomes, a self-funded PhD candidate expected to complete in 2024, and Jane Tweedy, a PhD candidate under the MRC DiMEN DTP program, with an expected completion year of 2027. Additionally, she has provided additional supervision to several PhD candidates, including Dr. Matthew Hunt, who completed his PhD in 2020 under the NIHR BRC program, Dr. Megan McNiff, who completed hers in 2021 under Wellcome, and Dr. Alex Bury, who completed his in 2022 under the MRC DiMEN DTP program. Currently, she supports Atif Khan and Jordan Childs, both PhD candidates expected to complete in 2023 and 2024 respectively, under the CDT Newcastle University program, as well as Maria Roxana, a PhD candidate expected to complete in 2026 under the BBSRC DTP program at Aberdeen. Her dedication to nurturing the next generation of researchers is evident in her diverse and extensive supervision portfolio.

Professional membership:

She is an active member of several prestigious organizations, including The Royal Society of Biology since 2022 and The Biochemical Society since 2018. Additionally, she was a member of The Genetics Society from 2015 to 2017. Engaging in scholarly discourse and knowledge dissemination, she has participated in numerous conferences and courses worldwide. Notable among these are her award lecture on “Mitochondria and Neurodegeneration” in Nottingham, UK, in 2023, and her role as an invited speaker at the EuroPhys satellite meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2022. She has also presented her research at various international conferences, including the EMBO Muscle formation, maintenance, regeneration, and pathology conference in Chantilly, France, in 2022, and the Keystone Symposium on Mitochondria in Ageing and Age-related disease in Colorado, USA, in 2019. Her contributions extend to poster presentations at conferences such as Euromit in Cologne, Germany, in 2017, and the Mitochondrial Medicine Symposium in Seattle, USA, in 2016. Furthermore, she has actively participated in training courses, including the Expansion Microscopy and lattice light sheet microscopy course at Janelia Farm Research Campus, USA, in 2016, and the Introduction to teaching and learning in higher education course in Newcastle, UK, in 2015. Through her involvement in these academic activities, she continues to advance knowledge and foster collaboration within her field.

Public engagementand outreach:

She actively engages in science communication and outreach activities, demonstrating her commitment to sharing scientific knowledge with diverse audiences. Noteworthy engagements include Soapbox Science 2022, where she likely delivered a public talk to promote science in everyday settings, and her participation in STEM Day at Hancock Museum in 2022, where she likely contributed to educational initiatives in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Moreover, she delivered a science talk to Newcastle Royal Grammar School Medical Society in 2022, likely inspiring students with her expertise. Serving as a STEM Ambassador since 2017, she has been dedicated to promoting STEM subjects and careers, fostering interest and enthusiasm among young people. In 2021, she represented the Biochemical Society at Voice of the Future, advocating for science policy issues. Notably, she organized the Cell Detectives stand on muscle pathology and patient diagnosis in August 2019, demonstrating her commitment to patient engagement and education. As the Engagement Lead for the MRC Centre for Ageing and Vitality from August 2017 to July 2018, she likely spearheaded various public engagement initiatives related to ageing research. Furthermore, she organized events like “Fit as a Falcon” in June 2018, focusing on nutrition and exercise education for school children, and the Lily Foundation Family Weekend in the same year, where she likely provided research information to patients and their families. Additionally, she organized a stand about mitochondrial disease at the Blue Dot Festival at Jodrell Bank in July 2017, raising awareness about this condition. Her dedication to science communication is evident in her involvement in events such as Science Uncovered in 2015 and 2014, where she organized stands and participated in discussions with the general public, and Mitochondrial Matters in 2014, where she likely conducted informative sessions for participants. Through these efforts, she contributes significantly to bridging the gap between scientific research and the wider community.

She has received several prestigious awards and recognitions throughout her career, highlighting her outstanding contributions to the field of biochemistry and cellular analysis. In 2023, she was honored with the Biochemical Society Early Career Award, underscoring her exceptional achievements and promising trajectory within the discipline. The previous year, in 2022, she was bestowed with the MDUK President’s Award for Early Career Researcher of the Year, a testament to her significant impact and dedication to advancing research in the field. Additionally, her research prowess was recognized at the Practicalities of Cellular Analysis Conference in March 2017, where she clinched the first-place poster prize, showcasing her ability to communicate and disseminate research findings effectively. Furthermore, her talent and potential were acknowledged early in her career when she was awarded the World Muscle Society (WMS) Early Career Research Fellowship at the WMS Congress in 2015, held in Brighton. This fellowship, which included a monetary sum of 400 euros, was granted to her based on the merit of her abstract, further affirming her promising contributions to the field of muscle research.

 

Reviews and Book Chapters
  1. Di Leo, V., Gomes, T., Vincent, A.E. (2023) “Interactions of mitochondrial and skeletal muscle biology in mitochondrial myopathy” Biochemical Journal. DOI: 10.1042/BCJ20220233.*Corresponding author
  2. Tuppen, H., Reeve, A.K., Vincent, A.E. (2022) “Detection of mitochondrial DNA Deletions”. Methods in Molecular Biology. *Corresponding author.
  3. Gomes, T., Ng, Y.S., Pickett, S.J., Turnbull, D.M., Vincent, A.E. (2021) “Mitochondrial DNA disorders: From pathogenic variants to preventing transmission” Human Molecular Genetics.*Corresponding author
  4. Bury, A., Vincent, A.E., Turnbull, D.M., Actis, P., Hudson, G. (2020) “Mitochondrial Isolation: When size matters”. Wellcome Open Research.
  5. Lawless, C., Greaves, L., Reeve, A.K., Turnbull, D.M., Vincent, A.E. (2020) “The rise and rise of mitochondrial DNA mutations”. Open Biology. 10:200061.*Corresponding author
  6. Frazier, A.E, Vincent, A.E., Turnbull, D.M,, Thorburn, D.R., Taylor, R.W. (2020) “Assessment of mitochondrial respiratory chain enzymes in cells and tissues.” Methods in Cell Biology. Chapter 5; p121-156.
  7. Ahmed, S.T., Butterworth, L., Russell, O.M, Turnbull, D.M., Vincent, A.E. (2018) “Diagnosis and treatment of mitochondrial myopathies”. 15(4): 943-953.*Corresponding author
  8. Vincent A.E., et al. (2018) “Multilevel heterogeneity of respiratory chain deficiency”. The Journal of Pathology. 246(3), 261-265.
  9. Vincent, A.E. et al. (2017) “Mitochondrial nanotunnels.” Trends in Cell Biology. 27(11); 787-799.
  10. Vincent, A.E. et al. (2016) “Expanding our understanding of mtDNA deletions”. Cell Metabolism. 24(1); 3-4.
📝🔬Publications📝🔬

 

1.     Vincent, A.E. et al. “A stagewise response to mitochondrial dysfunction in mitochondrial DNA maintenance disorders.” (2024) BBA Molecular mechanisms of disease. In Press. *Corresponding author.

2.     Peruzzotti-Jametti, L., Willis, C.M, Kzrak, G., Hamel, R., Pirva, L., Ionescu, R-B, Reisz, J.A., Prag, HA., Garcia-Sergura, M.E., Wu, V., Xiang, Y., Barlas, B., Casy, A.M., van der Bosch, A.M.R, Nicaise, A.M., Roth, L., Batces, G.R., Huang, H., Prasad, P., Vincent, A.E. et al. “Mitochondrial complex I activity in microglia sustains neuroinflammation”. (2024) Nature. Online ahead of print.

3.     Pinol-Jurado, P., Verdu-Diaz, J., Fernandez-Simon,E., Dominguez-Gonxalez, C., Hernandez-Lain, A. Lawless, C., Vincent, A. et al. “Imaging mass cytometry analysis of Becker muscular dystrophy muscle samples reveales different stages of muscle degeneration.” (2024) Scientific reports. 14;3368.

4.     Fatig, J., Davey, T., Laws, R., Lawless, C., Tuppen, H., Fitton, E., Turnbull, D., Vincent, A.E.“Mitochondrial morphology and function in mitochondrial disease.” (2023) Biorixivpreprint.*Corresponding Author.

5.     Di Leo, V., Lawless, C., Roussel, M., Gomes, T.B., Gomran, G.S., Russell, O.M., Duchesne, E., Vincent, A.E. (2023) “Resistance Exercise Training Rescues Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Skeletal Muscle of Patients with Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1”. J Neuromuscul Dis. *Corresponding Author.

6.     Chen, C., McDonald, D., Blain, A., Mossman, E., Atkin, K., Marusich, M.F., Capaldi, R., Bone, L., Smith, A., Filby, A., Erskine, D., Russell, O., Hudson, G., Vincent, A.E.,et al. (2023) “Parkinson’s disease neurons exhibit alterations in mitochondrial quality control proteins.” NPJ Parkinson’s Disease. 9(1)120.

7.     Jackson, C.B., Marmyleva, A., Awashpersad, R., Monteuuis, G., Takayuki, M., Zamboni, N., Tatsuta, T., Vincent, A.E. et al (Preprint). “De Novo serine biosynthesis is protective in mitochondrial disease”.

8.     Khan, A., Lawless, C., Vincent, A.E., et al (2022). “Explainable Deep learning to Profile Mitochondrial Disease Using High Dimensional Protein Expression Data.”arXiv.

9.     Lhuissier, C., Wagner, B.E., Vincent A., et al. (2022). “Case report: Thirty-year progression of an EMPF1 encephalopathy due to defective mitochondrial and peroxisomal fission cased by novel de novo heterozygous DNM1L variant.” Frontiers in Neurology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2022.937885.

10.  The AIMM Trial Group (2022). “Acipimox in Mitochondrial Myopathy (AIMM): study protocol for a randomised, double-blinded placebo-controlled, adaptive design trial of the efficacy of Acipimox in adult patients with mitochondrial myopathy.” Trials. 23(1).

11.  Hunt, M., McNiff, M.M., Vincent A.E. et al. (2022) “Skeletal muscle mitochondrial dysfunction antiretroviral therapy: a single cell analysis. AIDS”.Epub ahead of print.

12.  Sachdeva A., Hart, C., Carey, C., Vincent, A.E. et al. (2022) “Automated quantitative high-throughput multiplex immunofluorescence pipeline to evaluate OXPHOS defects in formalin-fixed human prostate tissue.” Scientific Reports. 12:6660.

13.  Bury, A., Pyle, A., Marcuccio, F., Turnbull, D., Vincent, A. et al. (2021) “A subcellular cookie cutter for spatial genomics in tissue”.Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry.*Joint Corresponding

14.  Mito, T., Vincent, A.E.,Faitg, J., Taylor, R.W., Khan, N., McWilliam, T.G., Suomalainen, A. “Mosaic dysfunction of mitophagy in mitochondrial disease”. Cell Metabolism.34: 1-12.

15.  Chen, C., McDonald, D, Blain, A., Sachdeva, A., Bone, L., Smith, A.L.M., Warren, C., Pickett, S.J., Hudson, G., Filby, A., Vincent, A.E. et al. (2021) “Astrocytic changes in mitochondrial OXPHOS proteins in Parkinson’s Disease”. Movement disorders. 1-14.

16.  Faitg, J., Lacefield, C., Davey, T., White, K., Laws, R., Kosmidis, S., Reeve, A.K., Kandel, E.R., Vincent, A.E.*, Picard, M*. (2021) “3D Neuronal Mitochondrial Morphology in Axons Dendrites and Somata of the Ageing mouse Hippocampus”. Cell Reports. 36:109509. *Joint Corresponding

17.  Chen, C., McDonald, D, Blain, A., Sachdeva, A., Bone, L., Smith, A.L.M., Warren, C., Pickett, S.J., Hudson, G., Filby, A., Vincent, A.E. et al. (2021) “Imaging mass cytometry reveals generalized deficiency in OXPHOS complexes in Parkinson’s disease”. npj Parkinson Disease.39(2021).

18.  Zhang, L., Evans, A., von Ruhland, C., Draman, M.S., Edkins, S., Vincent, A.E. et al. (2020) “Distinctive deatures of orbital adipose tissue (OAT) in Graves’ Orbitopathy”. International Journal of Medical Sciences. 21(23):9145

19.  Warren, C., McDonald, D, Capaldi, R., Deehan, D., Taylor, R.W., Filby, A. Turnbull, D.M., Lawless, C, Vincent A.E. (2020) “Decoding mitochondrial heterogeneity in single muscle fibres by Imaging Mass Cytometry”. Scientific Reports. 10:15336*Corresponding Author.

20.  Yarnell, A.J., Granic, A., Waite, S., Hollingworth, H.G., Warren, C., Vincent, A.E. et al. (2020) “The feasibility of muscle mitochondrial respiratory chain phenotyping across the cognitive spectrum in Parkinson’s disease”. Experimental Gerontology. 138:110997.