PD Dr. Alvaro Mallagaray de Benito

Research focus

• NMR spectroscopy and NMR-based metabolomics
• development of hybrid quantitative NMR-AI methods for the analysis of biological fluids
• identification of diagnostic glycoprotein markers in clinical cohorts (e.g., cancer, IBD, NASH, Parkinson’s disease)
• elucidation of functional mechanisms of N-glycan liberation, capture, and import by gut Bacteroidetes through coordinated endoglycosidases and SusD-like enzymes
• study of molecular mechanisms controlling first steps in viral infection by NMR (Norovirus, SARS-CoV-2, etc.) 
   

Methods & approaches

• multidimensional solution-state NMR spectroscopy and NMR-based glycobiology
• quantitative glycoprotein analysis using novel NMR methods combined with AI
• selective isotopic labeling, protein expression and purification from bacterial and mammalian cells
• statistical modelling, lineshape fitting, and automated data processing (Matlab-based pipelines)
• ligand-based and protein-based NMR spectroscopy, epitope mapping, ligand screening, NMR analysis of complex glycans
   

Expertise

• development and application of NMR methods for metabolomics and glycoprotein analysis
• computational NMR: spectral processing, quantification, statistical evaluation; biomarker research in biomedical and clinical contexts
• protein expression and protein purification from bacterial and mammalian cells
• glycobiology and Virology in the context of glycan recognition
• enzyme kinetics and enzyme activity studied by NMR