I obtained my PhD at Catholic University of America specializing on structure-function analysis of portal protein gp20. My contributions to the field of T4 virus research have been published in different scientific journals as well as featured in their covers. My future direction is to do research elucidating the functions of T4 proteins which may provide insights for biomedical applications.

T4 virus is a bacteriophage that infects E. coli 90 nm wide and 200 nm long with a cycle lasting ~30 minutes. Its structure is composed of about 50 proteins that make the head, tail and tail fibers therefore it belongs to the caudovirales order. This visualization is obtained using a high performance computer which allows to include all the proteins in a single session of UCSF Chimera visualization software starting with each protein from Protein Data Bank (X-rays) and Electron Microscopy Data Bank (CryoEM). It is a tedious process of arrangement and fitting of the individual models into the right positions. gp24 is dark magenta, gp23 is green, hoc is blue and soc is orange in the head.

Structural model of SARS-CoV-2 showing the recently determined spikes pdb id 6VSB (big protrusions), E proteins (small protrusions) and the virus core made of membrane cryoEM reconstructions for SARS-CoV-1 emdb id 1423. This model was constructed with UCSF Chimera software for a core diameter of 100 nm. I am trying to elucidate the mechanisms of spike binding to its receptor ACE2 in order to block this binding and stop infection of COVID 19. This task is very important because we are in a pandemic since december 2019 that is killing many people and there is no vaccine or therapeutic so far.

The Bacteriophage T4 virus (left panel) infects the bacterium Escherichia coli. Resembling a lunar lander, this virus stores its DNA in its icosahedral head. Once it “lands” on the surface of an E. coli cell, the virus injects its DNA through the tail (purple tube) into the cell, infecting the bacterium. Dr. Padilla-Sanchez is studying how the viral DNA packaging machine (middle and right panels) loads DNA (red) into the head when new viruses are assembled. Expanding our knowledge about how this virus works might one day allow researchers to engineer it to instead fight cancer and produce vaccines. These images were created with UCSF’s Chimera Visualization Software using raw structural data from the Protein Data Bank as well as cryoEM reconstructions from the Electron Microscopy Data Bank.

The capital of the Nation is where my research takes place being the attraction for many visitors because of the many museums, parks and the Smithsonian Institution which hosts many events yearlong. Of course, is where the White House and Congress are located which by themselves make DC a popular destination. There are many important universities like George Washington University, Georgetown University and others. Also, in the metropolitan area there are many scientific institutions like the National Science Foundation in Alexandria, VA; the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD; and many hospitals which do research like Georgetown Hospital, Howard University Hospital, etc. Three airports serve Washington DC which make the destination very attractive for everyone. Welcome to DC !