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Valerie De Anda is a Research Associate in the Baker Lab, where she started as a postdoc in September 2018. She graduated summa cum laude from the National Autonomous University of Mexico with her B.S in Biology with a minor in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in 2012 and her Ph.D. in Molecular and Experimental Evolution in 2018. Her research focuses on understanding the metabolism, ecology, and evolution of prokaryotes from extreme environments while developing new computational approaches
De Anda's work for the Baker Lab provides clues to the physiological capacities of new microbial branches in the tree of life, including characterization of archaea that are considered the missing link between simple unicellular organisms and complex life. These discoveries advance our understanding of the origin of cellular complexity. During her scientific career, she has mentored and taught in Mexico, Germany, Spain, and the USA, published in the most prestigious journals and received several international recognitions including the “Bioinformatics Peer Prize II” awarded by the Center for Genetic Systems (Melbourne, Australia) conferred to software developers; the FEMS-ASM MÄKELÄ-CASSELL, dedicated to young microbiologists (Glasgow, Scotland) and the “Early-career Women Scientist's Award” at the International Genomics Conference-14 (Shenzhen, China), where she represented the only invited Latin American scientist and spoke about the challenges faced by women in science. She has also been a finalist in the “Giga Science Prize Track” competition organized by the Beijing Genomics Institute and China National Genebank and was named a semifinalist in a national contest in Mexico for best Ph.D. thesis in 2017.
Beyond her everyday research, Valerie is concerned with raising awareness on gender inequality in science. As a researcher, mentor, and teacher, she is committed to promoting underrepresented groups in the areas of software development, programming, and computational biology by encouraging and generating opportunities for future generations of women in Latin America.
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* corresponding author + equal contribution
2021
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Rambo I, De Anda V, Langwig M and Baker BJ, Unique viruses that infect Archaea related to eukaryotes. BioRxiv [Preprint]
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Langwig M, De Anda V+, Dombrowski N, Seitz K, Rambo I, Greening C, Teske A, and Baker BJ. Large-scale protein level comparison of Deltaproteobacteria reveals cohesive metabolic groups. ISME Open Access [LINK]
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De Anda V, Chen Lin-Xing, Dombrowski N, Zheng-Shuang H, Hong-Chen J, Banfield Jill F, Li Wen-Ju, Baker BJ (2021). Brockarchaeota, a novel archaeal phylum with unique and versatile carbon cycling pathways. Nature Communications Open Access [LINK]
2020
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Hernandez L, Vicens A, Eguiarte L, Souza V, De Anda V, Gonzales JM (2020). Evolutionary history of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) demethylation enzyme DmdA in marine bacteria. PeerJ Open Access [LINK]
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Baker BJ, De Anda V, Seitz K W., Dombrowski N, Santoro AE and Lloyd KG. (2020). Diversity, ecology and evolution of Archaea. Nat Microbiol [LINK][PDF]
2018
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De Anda V, Zapata-Peñasco I, Blaz J, Poot-Hernández AC, Contreras-Moreira B, González-Laffitte M, Gámez-Tamariz N, Hernández- Rosales M, Eguiarte LE and Souza V (2018). Understanding the Mechanisms Behind the Response to Environmental Perturbation in Microbial Mats: A Metagenomic-Network Based Approach. Front. Microbiol. 9:2606. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02606. Open Access [LINK]
Book chapter.
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De Anda V, Zapata-Peñasco I., Eguiarte L.E., Souza V(2018) Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of Environmental Perturbations in Microbial Mats from the Cuatro Cienegas Basin by Network Inference. In: García-Oliva F., Elser J., Souza V. (eds) Ecosystem Ecology and Geochemistry of Cuatro Cienegas. Cuatro Ciénegas Basin: An Endangered Hyperdiverse Oasis. Springer, Cham [LINK][PDF]
Book chapter.
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De Anda V, Zapata-Peñasco I., Eguiarte L.E., Souza V (2018) The Sulfur Cycle as the Gear of the “Clock of Life”: The Point of Convergence Between Geological and Genomic Data in the Cuatro Cienegas Basin. In: García-Oliva F., Elser J., Souza V. (eds) Ecosystem Ecology and Geochemistry of Cuatro Cienegas. Cuatro Ciénegas Basin: An Endangered Hyperdiverse Oasis. Springer, Cham [LINK][PDF]
2017
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De Anda V*, Zapata-Peñasco I, Poot-Hernandez AC, Eguiarte LE, Contreras-Moreira B, Souza V. (2017) MEBS, a software platform to evaluate large (meta)genomic collections according to their metabolic machinery: unraveling the sulfur cycle. Gigascience;6(11):1-17. Open Access LINK]
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- Early-career Women Scientist’s Travel Award. The award aims to support outstanding young female scientists by providing resources to attend and participate in the BGI's 14th Annual International Conference on Genomics (ICG-14) in Shenzhen, CHINA. October 2019
- Winner of the FEMS-ASM MÄKELÄ-CASSELL Award 2019 for Early Career Scientists FEMS selects only one member for each ASM conference to present their research as an inviter speaker. 8th Congress of European Microbiologist. SCOTLAND. July 2019
- Alfonso Caso Candidate for Ph.D. Alfonso Caso is a distinction awarded by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) to the most outstanding student of each graduate program at the national level, including masters and doctorate programs. The winner will be announced by the end of 2021. MEXICO
- Selected Finalist for the LANGEBIO Award 2017 The National genomics laboratory for biodiversity (LANGEBIO) organizes this yearly award to select the best PhD thesis at the national level and selects only five semifinalists for oral presentation. Irapuato, MEXICO.
- Semifinalist and Honorable Mention in the GigaScience Prize Track. GigaScience Prize Track is a competition and prize track to promote new, cutting edge, unpublished research in the field of large scale biological and biomedical research. It includes submissions of both theoretical and experimental ‘omics’ research in areas covered by GigaScience‘s scope and carried out in open access, showcasing the latest real-time and open peer review methods.
- Winner of The Bioinformatics Peer Prize II Student Category Prize that recognizes recently published Bioinformatics research.
- International Exchange Scholarship: One-year fellowship granted by the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) (equivalent to NSF in the USA) for a research visit to a laboratory of computational & structural biology CSIC Zaragoza Spain during 2016-2017
- Travel Student Award: Travel funding to attend the Gordon Research Conference on Microbial Population Biology in Proctor Academy, Andover, NH USA. July 2015
- Travel Student Award: Funding to assist the IV Conference of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Bacteria Atlixco Puebla Mexico. October 2015
- Travel Student Research Award. Travel funding for a two-month research during summer 2014 visit at the laboratory of computational & structural biology in CSIC Zaragoza, Spain
- Graduate Research Fellowship: Five-year doctoral graduate student fellowship granted by National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT), UNAM Mexico, 2013-2018
- Financial Support for a B.S degree: Support from the Secretary of Public Education (SEP), Mexico 2012
- Financial Support for Social Service during B.S: Granted by the Secretary of public Education (SEP), Mexico
- Study Abroad Excellence International Exchange Scholarship: For attendance to the University of Valencia, Spain, Faculty of Biological Science granted by UNAM. Winter semester scholarship
Academic - Financial Support Program “Strengthening Excellence Undergraduate Studies” (PFEL in Spanish): Awarded during B.S, granted by UNAM of Mexico 2008-2011
- Academic Excellence. Full Scholarship for High School: UVM Laureate International Universities Granted by National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) 2007
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Invited Presentations
- Series of seminars on bioinformatics and marine microbiology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. From the deep sea to the origin of cellular complexity. October 2021
- Centro de Investigación en Biología Celular y Molecular (CIBCM) . Expandiendo el árbol microbiologico de la vida. September 2021
- XXV Latin American Congress of Microbiology - ALAM 2021. Plenary Session. Asgard archaea and the origin of celular complexity. August 2021
- Congreso Latinoamericano del Microbioma. Microbioma del fondo Marino. June 2021.
- World Microbe Forum WMF. American Society of Microbioly ASM. "In-depth session" presentation. "The expanding archaeal tree of life" https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/9286/session/1082. June 23, 2021
- World Microbe Forum WMF. American Society of Microbiology ASM “ Meet the expert session”. Analyzing New Branches of the Tree of Life from Marine Sediments. https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/9286/session/1344June 23, 2021
- 2nd Computational Biology Symposium of the Institute of Cellular Physiology of UNAM. This event highlights “Mexican Women in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics”. June 9, 2021. Cancelled due to COVID-19
- Metagenomics forum. University of Alicante Spain. “Expanding the microbial tree of life”. June 4, 2021
Microbial Journal Club. "Bioinformática, metabolismo microbiano y ambiente extremos: decodificando nuevas ramas del árbol de la vida", May 28, 2021 - Archaea Power Hour, Novel archaeal lineages as key players in the evolution of life on Earth. May 26, 2021
- 6th International Symposium on Microbial Sulfur Metabolism meeting (ISMSM) Antwerp, Belgium, April 18-21 2021 (Postponed to 2022 due to COV-19)
- National workshops to promote women in STEM science CINVESTAV Irapuato Mexico, September 2020 (Cancelled due to COV-19)
- Novel Archaeal Phyla Filling Gaps in Carbon Cycling in the Deep Sea SUN125 - The Expanding Archaeal Tree of Life. ASM Chicago, June 18-22 20020 (Cancelled due to COV-19)
- Finding new microbial lineages and their biogeochemical roles using emerging genomic techniques Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Geochemistry Department, Columbia University, NY, January 10, 2020
- Overcoming obstacles as an early-career Latin American woman in Science. 5th Annual Woman in Science Conference, Satellite of the BGI's 14th Annual International Conference on Genomics (ICG-14) Shenzhen, CHINA. October 24-27, 2020
- Brockarchaeota an archaeal phylum with unique methylotrophic pathways.8th Congress of European Microbiologist, FEMS Glasgow, SCOTLAND, July 7-11, 2019
- A new way to explore the vast universe of microbes in the Omic-Era. National genomics laboratory for biodiversity, Irapuato, MÉXICO, December 6-8, 2017
- MEBS, a software platform to evaluate large (meta)genomic collections according to their metabolic machinery: unraveling the sulfur cycle. 12th International Conference on Genomics, Shenzhen, CHINA, October 26-29, 2017
- MEBS: Multigenomic-Entropy Based Score. Herbstseminar der Bioinformatik. Bioinformatics seminar. Doubice, CZECH REPUBLIC, October 02-07, 2017
- Analyzing biogeochemical cycles with a new bioinformatic approach. First Annual meeting of GBsC (BIFI, UNIZAR) Unit Associated with CSIC (Biochemical Group, Biophysics, Computational Biology). EEAD, Zaragoza, SPAIN, June 22, 2017
- Microarrays in aquaculture and Exploring the genetic diversity and metabolic capabilities using microarrays and metagenomics. Workshop “Principles and applications of Microarrays” Academic Unit of Science and Technology UNAM Science and Technology Park Mérida, Yucatán, MÉXICO. January 19-22, 2016
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
- Brockarchaeota, a newly discovered archaeal linage within TACK superphylum. ASM Fall Meeting, Corpus Christi, USA, November 8-10,2018.
- Understanding the mechanisms behind the response to environmental perturbation in microbial mats: a metagenomic-network based approach. 17th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, August. ISME, Leipzig, GERMANY, August 12-17,2018.
- Temporal changes in the community structure of microbial mats from Cuatro Cienegas: a response of aquifer overexploitation. Gordon Research Conference Microbial Populations, New Hampshire, USA. July 19-24, 2015
- A new multigenomic approach for the study of biogeochemical cycles at global scale: the complete molecular reconstruction of the sulfur cycle. Fourth Meeting of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Bacteria, Atlixco, Puebla MÉXICO, October 4-8, 2015
- Taxonomical and functional analysis of sulfur cycle in metagenomic samples Third Meeting of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Bacteria, Cuatro Cienegas, Coahuila MEXICO, October 3-7, 2013
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