Juan Manuel Falcon-Perez

Dr. Juan M. Falcon-Perez is Ikerbasque Research Professor at CIC bioGUNE (Derio, Bizkaia, Spain) where he is leading the laboratory 3 of the metabolomics unit and the metabolomics platform of the center. During his Ph.D at the Biomedical Research Institute "Alberto Sols" in Madrid, Dr. Falcon carried out an extensive biochemical analysis of the Ycf1 carrier of S. cerevisiae, as model for the study of CFTR protein that is responsible of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) human disease. As postdoctoral fellow in the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid participated in the generation of the knockout mouse for the POMT 1 gene codifying the O-mannosyltransferase protein 1, an essential enzyme in development, and with important implications in muscular dystrophies. As postdoctoral researcher in the Human Genetics Department of University of California, Los Angeles (USA) he focused on the biochemical and functional characterization of proteins associated with the Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) which is caused by defects in the formation of lysosome-related organelles (e.g. melanosomes, platelet dense granules) using mouse and flies as model organisms. In 2006, he moved to CIC bioGUNE and started his research in the study on exosomes –extracellular vesicles of endocytic origin- as a source for biomarker discovery and a tool for therapeutic applications. Currently, his research line is focused on identification of minimally invasive markers for hepatic, infectious and neurological disorders by applying high-content technologies (e.g. metabolomics) on different biological sources including body fluids and exosomes.