Mirtha Aguado

I am Mirtha Elisa Aguado, I am a graduate in Microbiology from the University of Havana, Cuba. I am part of the group of Protease Inhibitors with Biomedical and Biotechnological Applications of the Center for Protein Studies of the Faculty of Biology of the University of Havana. I am a PhD student about metallo-neutral aminopeptidase inhibitors with potential applications in the treatment of human infectious diseases.

At the Wellcome Center for Anti-Infective Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, I will be working under the supervision of Professor PhD Mark C. Field on the Identification of inhibitors of the M17 leucyl-aminopeptidase from Leishmania major, with in vitro anti -leishmanial activity, by high throughput screening of synthetic compounds using RapidFire-MS.

This project is a target-based drug discovery proposal that is significantly accelerated with a high-throughput mass spectrometry-based detection assay to identify inhibitors of the M17 leucyl-aminopeptidase from Leishmania major in libraries of thousands of compounds, technology that I will have the opportunity to learn and work with thanks to this training. In addition, the WCAIR has the compound library and facilities to test selected compounds in Leishmania core cultures.

This opportunity is an exceptional experience for my professional and personal career. Thanks to this program I can know and work with advanced technology that will make it possible to have satisfactory results in my research.

I am immensely happy to be a part of this program and very grateful.