Adrián Velázquez Campoy
Centre: BIFI
Institution: University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza (Spain)
Posición: Researcher from the University of Zaragoza
E-mail: adrianvc@unizar.es
Phone: 976 762996
Profile: Ver
Personal statement
In 1998 I completed my doctoral thesis on the calorimetric study of protein adsorption on polymeric particles under the supervision of Miguel Ángel Cabrerizo Vílchez and Obdulio López Mayorga at the University of Granada. Later, between 1998 and 2003, I did a postdoctoral stay at the Department of Biology at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, USA). In 2004, I joined the BIFI Institute of the University of Zaragoza as a Ramón y Cajal researcher, and in 2008 as a researcher at the ARAID Foundation, developing a line of biomolecular interactions based on biophysical experimental techniques to understand how proteins relevant in medicine and biotechnology work, and to apply this knowledge to discover new drugs and develop new biotechnological products. In 2021, I obtained a position as a full professor, and in 2024 as a full professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Zaragoza. I am currently the scientific director of the LACRIMA laboratory (Advanced Laboratory for Molecular Screening and Interactions of Aragon), which brings together the experimental scientific infrastructure of the BIFI Institute dedicated to drug discovery.
Researcher profile identity
During my time as an ARAID researcher, I was recognized as an R4 level researcher. My main lines of research focus on the experimental structural and functional study of proteins of biotechnological and/or biomedical interest, the development of experimental methodologies for the study of biomolecular interactions and functional regulation in biological systems, and the development of high-throughput screening procedures for the search for new drugs.
Why my research is important
Proteins are very important biomolecules that intervene in practically all the functions performed by living beings, so many proteins can be considered as target molecules to develop therapeutic treatments for diseases. Thus, by means of a small molecule we can block an essential protein of a pathogenic microorganism or block a deregulated protein of our own organism. To do this, in our laboratory we study how certain medically relevant proteins behave and function and, with this knowledge, we design screening procedures to discover small molecules that interact with them, to subsequently improve them from a therapeutic point of view. To date, we have directed or participated in the discovery of potential drugs against hepatitis C, gastric ulcer, phenylketonuria, pancreatic cancer, Rett syndrome, chronic inflammation and colon cancer, and COVID-19.
Know more about me and my research here
– https://bifi.es/es/biofisica/#1
– https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adrian-Velazquez-Campoy
