Juan Carlos Slebe was born and educated – primary and secondary school – in Santiago, Chile. He went on to University of Concepción and after studying five years (“Licenciatura”) he returned to Santiago to Dr. Hermann Niemeyer’s laboratory because he had become interested in the regulatory properties of enzymes and their roles in metabolic pathways. His undergraduate thesis was on Glucose-phosphorylating Isoenzymes in the liver of avian, reptiles and amphibian and was directed by Dr. Tito Ureta. He obtained the Biochemist title at the University of Chile and has an academic career that spans nearly 46 years, from his first paper, a comparative study on liver hexokinases of vertebrates, until his last, in which is demonstrated that polyglucosan molecules induce mitochondrial impairment and apoptosis in germ cells without affecting the integrity and functionality of Sertoli cells. He started his academic carrier at the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile (1970) and after eight years he moved to the Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, at the Austral University of Chile (Associated Professor) where he has been until now (Distinguished Professor). In 1974, Professor Marino Martinez-Carrión invited him to spend three years at University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA and during his time there – as Staff Faculty Fellow – acquired an interest in the mitochondrial and cytosolic aspartate transaminase isozymes, the subject of his research in this period, with a series of papers on the application of 19F-NMR to its kinetic and thermodynamics followed by a paper on the stereochemistry of the transamination. In 1978 his attention turned to Fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) isozymes, using this key gluconeogenic protein as a model for studies on structure-function relationships in a regulatory enzyme, and rapidly his laboratory became one of the leaders in the study of the mechanisms of regulation of FBPase which is considered a new target for the control of diabetes. At the same time he obtained his Doctoral Degree at the University of Chile (1985). His research group has made significant contributions in the understanding of mechanisms involving FBPase in the regulation of the metabolism of glucose not only during normal healthy processes but also during abnormal states which lead to the high glucose levels observed in type 2 diabetes and the L-lactic acid acidosis observed in autism. He has been involved in several PhD programs and mentored the thesis of many undergraduate and graduate students that now are doing research in academic and/or applied fields at national and international prestigious institutions. Despite a heavy teaching load and a large output of research papers, he found time to be involved with administration at University Austral of Chile, becoming: Director of School of Sciences (1980 – 1987), Director of Research (1988 – 1990), President of the Central Commission for Doctoral Studies (1992-1994), Chairman of the Biochemistry Institute (1994-2006), Member of the Central Commission for Academic Evaluation (1995-2001), Member of the Directive Board – “Junta Directiva” – (1999- 2002) and Academic Member of the Board – “Directorio” – ( 2009 – 2017). He was President of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Society of Chile (1999 – 2000) and also was member of: the Study Section Biology 3 – FONDECYT – (1997-2000), Technical Committee of Biochemistry (Comisión Nacional de Acreditación de Pregrado; Ministerio de Educación (2000- 2003)) and the Committee Biology 2 (Comisión Nacional de Acreditación de Postgrados; CONICYT-Ministerio de Educación (2000- 2005).
