Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado is a

molecular biologist Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

, an investigator of the

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, fil ...

, and executive director and Chief Scientific Officer of the

Stowers Institute for Medical Research The Stowers Institute for Medical Research is a biomedical research organization that conducts basic research on genes and proteins that control fundamental processes in living cells to analyze diseases and find keys to their causes, treatment, ...

. The Sánchez Alvarado Laboratory focuses on understanding the regenerative capabilities of the

planarian A planarian is one of the many flatworms of the traditional class Turbellaria. It usually describes free-living flatworms of the order Tricladida (triclads), although this common name is also used for a wide number of free-living platyhelmint ...

flatworm The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegment ...

Schmidtea mediterranea ''Schmidtea mediterranea'' is a freshwater triclad that lives in southern Europe and Tunisia. It is a model for regeneration, stem cells and development of tissues such as the brain and germline. Distribution ''Schmidtea mediterranea'' is foun ...

.'' In 2015, Sánchez Alvarado was elected a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

, and to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 2018 for his distinguished and continuing achievements in original scientific research.

Life

Born in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, Sánchez Alvarado attended the Colegio Emil Friedman for elementary and high school education, where he first cultivated his interest in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

. After receiving a BS in molecular biology and

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in 1986, he attended the

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine The University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center (AHC) is a collection of health colleges and institutions of the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio. It trains health care professionals and provides research and patient care. AHC has st ...

for his PhD in

pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...

and

cell biophysics Cell biophysics (or cellular biophysics) is a sub-field of biophysics that focuses on physical principles underlying cell function. Sub-areas of current interest include statistical models of intracellular signaling dynamics, intracellular transport ...

in the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey Robbins. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1992, he carried out postdoctoral studies from 1994 to 1995 in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

at the

Carnegie Institution of Washington The Carnegie Institution of Washington (the organization's legal name), known also for public purposes as the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), is an organization in the United States established to fund and perform scientific research. Th ...

, Department of Embryology under the mentorship of Dr.

Donald D. Brown Donald David Brown (December 30, 1931 – May 31, 2023) was an American biologist and one of the founders of molecular embryology. Early life Brown was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to Dr. Albert Brown, an Ophthalmology, ophthalmologist, and Lo ...

. He was then appointed Staff Associate at the Department of Embryology to run his own independent research group and during which he started to develop the planarian '' S. mediterranea'' as a research organism to study animal regeneration

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez Alvarado, Alejandro Living people Venezuelan biologists Vanderbilt University alumni University of Cincinnati College of Medicine alumni 1964 births Stowers Institute for Medical Research people