mariana.boiani@vanderbilt.edu

I was born and raised in Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, a small South American country. Science captured my attention when I was very young (mainly inspired in Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and Asimov’s books), and I decided to study biochemistry when I was at high school. I entered the School of Science (Universidad de la Republica) in 1996 and got my degree in Biochemistry in 2001. In 1999 I began my research career at the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, School of Chemistry, under the supervision of Dr. Gonzalez and Dr. Cerecetto. There, I worked in the synthesis of antitumoral and antiparasitic compunds. In 2003 I got a Masters in Chemistry working in the synthesis and biological activity of benzimidazole N-oxide derivatives. As part of my thesis I described for the first time benzimidazole di-N-oxides active against Trypanosoma cruzi, and using a combination of spectroscopic and molecular modeling techniques I studied the reactivity of benzimidazole N-oxides as bi-dentate anions. After finishing my thesis I continued working in the medicinal chemistry area but decided to move from organic synthesis to biological assays and QSAR, and in 2004 I started interdisciplinary doctoral studies under the direction of Dr. Ana Denicola and Dr. Mercedes Gonzalez. My PhD research focused in studying the mode of action of heterocyclic N-oxides against T. cruzi parasites. I developed theoretical models of anti-T. cruzi activity using different machine-learning methods (neural networks, lazy-learners, decision-tree, linear and non-linear regression) that help understanding the structure-activity relationships and could be used in the design of new structures. I also studied the effect of these compounds in the parasite, mainly focused in the capacity of these derivatives to act as oxidative stress promoters.

I obtained my PhD in Chemistry in 2007. In 2008 my son Nicolas was born. and in the summer of 2009 my family and I moved to Nashville. Currently, I have a postdoc position in the Marnett lab at Vanderbilt University. Here, I am working with Bcl2 family proteins and Bcl2 associated proteins studying its potential use as drug target for the treatment of cancer. In my free time I enjoyed spending time with my family, drinking mate, watching movies, listening to music and reading.