自慰视频

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Valeria Garcia Lopez, Ph.D.

Instructor

Educational Background

Centre College, B.S. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

自慰视频 University, Ph.D. Biological Sciences

On Teaching

Throughout my academic career, I have had educators who aim to create great learners. Learning can be uncomfortable because it requires students to exist in uncertainty until a breakthrough moment happens. As an educator, I lead with curiosity and work to create environments where students feel safe exploring academic interests, even when discomfort is part of the process. I view failure as progress, not an endpoint. I am also deeply committed to making students active participants in projects, so they can directly contribute to scientific advancements.

On Research

I am a molecular biologist studying protein quality control, specifically protein degradation. My research focuses on proteostasis, the dynamic regulation that maintains functional proteins while removing non-functional ones. I investigated how cells degrade misfolded thyroglobulin, a thyroid hormone precursor, through the ER-phagy pathway. My work used affinity purification-mass spectrometry and proteomics to examine which ER-phagy receptors interact with and deliver thyroglobulin to the lysosome for degradation. ER-phagy is a promising degradation pathway with many unanswered questions. We know little about which proteins are degradation targets for this pathway and how the targets are identified.

Publications

  • Hazari Y, Habbouche L, Garcia Lopez V, Urra H, et al. 鈥淭argeting the ER stress sensor IRE1 protects the liver from fibrosis through the downregulation of the proteostasis factor P4HB/PDIA1.鈥澨Hepatology 2026
  • Garcia Lopez V, Plate L. 鈥淐omparative Interactome Profiling of Nonstructural Protein 3 Across SARS-CoV-2 Variants Emerged During the COVID-19 Pandemic.鈥 Viruses 2025
  • Wright MT, Timalsina B, Garcia Lopez V, Hermanson JN, Garcia S, Plate L. 鈥淭ime-resolved interactome profiling deconvolutes secretory protein quality control dynamics.鈥 Mol Syst Biol 2024
  • Parnell J, Fazili I, Bloch S, Lacy B, Garcia-Lopez V, Bernard R, Skaar E, Edwards K, Nicholson M. 鈥淭wo-step Testing for Clostridioides Difficile is Inadequate in Differentiating Infection From Colonization in Children.鈥 Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition 2021
  • League G, Estevez-Lao T, Yan Y, Garcia-Lopez V, Hillyer J. 鈥淎nopheles gambiae larvae mount stronger immune responses against bacterial infection than adults: evidence of adaptive decoupling in mosquitoes.鈥 Parasites & Vectors 2017

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