Researcher, teacher, science journalist... born under the gray Bogota skies, 2600 meters closer to the stars. At age 18, with my high school diploma in my pocket, I went to France, to the beautiful and rainy Bordeaux, to study and taste the local wine (not necessarily in that order). I liked it so much (I mean the city) that I studied as much as I could just to stay as long as possible: BSc in Cell Biology, Master in Genetics and Ph.D. in Cell Biology and Physiology.
Nicolas Gutierrez C.
BSc in Cell Biology
MSc in Genetics
PhD of Cell Biology and Physiology
At the University of Bordeaux I did my PhD at the INSERM laboratory of Mitochondrial Physiopathology, directed by Dr. Thierry Letellier. Under the supervision of Dr. Christophe Rocher I did my research on mitochondrial DNA mutations responsible for deafness.
I did my postdoc at the University of Washington, in the beautiful (and even rainier) city of Seattle. There, I worked at the Mitochondria and Metabolism Center, in Dr. Wang Wang's lab, where I studied the consequences of obesity on mitochondria and how this leads to heart disease.
And, finally, I escaped the rain in the beautiful, sunny and smiley Cali, where I worked at the Universidad del Valle, in the Human Molecular Genetics Lab, directed by Pr. Guillermo Barreto. There, I studied the mitochondrial phylogenetics of Colombian natives and the potential adaptive role of mitochondria to the great altitudes of the Andes.
But, all these great experiences showed me that what I liked the most about science was learning and talking about it (rather than doing the actual experiments.) So, my rainy destiny caught up with me as it took me back to France, to the northern city of Lille, where I studied a Master in Science Journalism at the ESJ Lille. Now, I spend my days writing, mostly about health, genetics, and metabolism, and I could not be happier, although I do miss the sun...