At UTEP, I have continued my research focused on the structure analysis and immunological and biological role of GPI-anchored glycoconjugates (glycoproteins and glycolipids) of T. cruzi, trying to understand how the parasite modulates and evades the host immune response. My ultimate goal is the development of more effective therapeutic approaches (i.e., vaccine and drugs) for Chagas disease. This endemic infection affects approximately over 11 million people in Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina, and causes permanent physical disabilities or death of thousands of people every year. The social and economic burden of CD is very high. The economic losses due long-term disability and death are estimated in excess of 8 billion dollars per year, just in Latin America. More recently, CD has become a major public health concern to the US and certain regions in Europe (e.g., Spain), were thousands of chronically infected people reside. Currently, there are only two partially effective and highly toxic drugs (i.e., benznidazole and nifurtimox) available for the treatment of CD, but no human vaccine. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of improved therapies, in particular a prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine.

Throughout my scientific career I have established of numerous fruitful collaborations with distinct research groups around the world working in a variety of biological systems (e.g. pathogenic protozoa, fungi and bacteria, and insect-vectors). In most of these studies, I have been directly involved in the structural and functional analysis of biomolecules, such as glycolipids, lipids, oligosaccharides, peptides, and proteins using MS-related techniques (ESI-MS, LC-MS, GC-MS, etc.) and several other analytical techniques (HPLC, HPTLC, radioactive and chemical methods, etc.) trying to determine their structural and functional roles.