Dr. Roxana Pincheira is Biochemist from the University of Concepcion. She performed her undergraduate thesis under direction of Dr. Isolde Rudolph (Neurochemistry), and then moved to Santiago and worked for two years as a Research Assistant in the Pontificia Universidad Catolica. During this period she worked under the supervision of Dr. Gonzalo Bustos (Neurochemistry) and Dr. Paulina Bull (Molecular Biology). She obtained her Doctoral Degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Chile (2000), working on the identification and characterization of the major subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 3, and its involvement with cancer. Her PhD thesis was under the direction of Dr. Jian Ting Zhang from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) through a Joint Graduate Program between Universidad de Chile and UTMB. After graduation she worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. David Donner (Protein Signaling and cancer) at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and in the Surgery Oncology Laboratory (Neurotrophin signaling and oncogene-tumor suppressor network) at the University of San Francisco California (UCSF), where she was appointed as Assistant Researcher. Since 2010 she is working as an Associate Professor of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department at Universidad de Concepcion. Dr. Pincheira’s research is aimed at understanding the molecular basis of cancer; currently her group investigates the regulation and function of SALL2, a transcription factor associated with Coloboma and several types of cancer. The Pincheira’s group has demonstrated that SALL2 plays a key role in the cellular response to stress, and in cell cycle regulation, which together supports a tumor suppressor role for SALL2. The knowledge of the molecular bases of cancer, and in the specific the understanding of SALL2 function under different genetic contexts, including its p53 – independent functions is crucial for the rationale of cancer treatments and the design of future antitumor drugs. Since 2011 Fondecyt has continuously funded her research. During 2011-2016 Dr. Pincheira was the Director of an institutional regional project aimed at advancing biomedical sciences in the Bio Bio Region. She is currently the Scientific Director of CREAV (Centro Regional de Estudios Avanzados por la Vida). Since 2012 she has been the President of the Bioethics committee from the Faculty of Biological Sciences. Dr. Pincheira has mentored several undergraduate thesis (Biochemistry, Bioengineering and Biology) and graduate thesis from Master and PhD programs at University of Concepcion. Finally, since 2010 she is an active member of the Chilean Biochemistry Society, and acted as the Bio Bio regional director during 2011-2012.
