Rodrigo obtained his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2003 from Michigan State University. He then spent three years as a postdoctoral researcher in Systems Biology at New York University, USA before moving back to Chile in 2006 as an Assistant Professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He is currently Full Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. Rodrigo has received several awards and honors during his career, including the Fogarty International CenterFellowship, Outstanding Young Scientist Award from the Chilean Society of Biology and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Early Career Scientist award. Rodrigo’s interdisciplinary research combines bioinformatics, genomics and systems approaches to understand nitrogen nutrient signaling and responses, particularly how nitrate regulates plant growth and development. He has published more than 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Science, PNAS, Plant Physiol, and The Plant Journal. Rodrigo has served on a number of different committees at the national and international level. He is one of the founders of the Chilean Society of Plant Biologists and first elected president. He has served in the Systems Biology Subcommittee and as Chilean representative for the Multinational Arabidopsis Steering Committee. He serves on the Global Plant Council as both a Board Member and representative of the Chilean Society of Plant Biologists.

plant biology, agriculture