Carlos Mario Restrepo Arboleda, PhD

Education:

  • Bachelor in Biotechnology, specialization in agro-industrial biotechnology, Fundación Universitaria San Martín (Summa cum laude).
  • Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Biotechnology, Acharya Nagarjuna University/INDICASAT AIP.
  • Master in Project Management, Universitat de Barcelona/OBS Business School.

Position:

Researcher at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology of Diseases, Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT AIP).

Research Area

Biotechnology and bioinformatics. Genomic studies for discovery and characterization of genes associated with virulence, pathogenesis, immune response evasion and drug resistance in protozoan and bacterial pathogens. Application of genomic information for the development of diagnostic methods, drugs, and vaccines. Molecular epidemiology.

Main research lines
  • Genomics of Leishmania panamensis and species from the subgenus Leishmania (Viannia).
  • Studies of celullar and molecular biology of host-pathogen interaction (Leishmania panamensis and BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice).
  • Design and development of antileshmania vaccine candidates using bioinformatics.
  • Identification of drug targets in Leishmania panamensis using computational methods.
  • Discovery of anti-leishmania drug candidates.
  • Characterization of mechanisms of action of anti-leishmania drugs.
  • Genomics and transcriptomics of Leptospira sp.
Methodological innovation and implementation lines
  • Implementation of bioinformatics and advanced biostatistics for transcriptomic studies.
  • Implementation of multivariate statistical methods for optimization of epidemiological studies.
  • Development of drug discovery platforms base on genetically modified microorganisms.
Collaborations
  • Molecular epidemiology of Leptospira sp.
  • Toxoplasma gondii epidemiology.
  • Studies on the frequency of HLA alleles in the panamanian population.
  • Validation of serological test for SARS-CoV-2 and seroprevalence studies.

Awards

  • Sistema Nacional de Investigación, national researcher level II. 2025.
  • Professor and mentor of the PhD program in Biosciences and Biotechnology of the Technological University of Panama (UTP). 2024.
  • Sistema Nacional de Investigación, national researcher level II. 2021.
  • MIT Technology Review, Innovators under 35 LATAM 2019.
  • Sistema Nacional de Investigación, national researcher level I. 2018.

Publications

First author
  1. Restrepo CM, Llanes A, Herrera L, Ellis E, Quintero I, Fernández PL. Baseline gene expression in BALB/c and C57BL/6 peritoneal macrophages influences but does not dictate their functional phenotypes. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2025 Jan 3;249:10377. doi: 10.3389/ebm.2024.10377. PMID: 39830895; PMCID: PMC11740880.
  2. Ayala, A.; Llanes, A.; Lleonart, R.; Restrepo, C.M. Advances in Leishmania Vaccines: Current Development and Future Prospects. Pathogens 2024, 13, 812. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13090812
  3. Carrasco, J., Chang, J. H., Pineda, L., Quintero, I., Giovani, R., Spadafora, C., Lleonart, R., Restrepo, C. M. Development of Leishmania pecies Strains with Constitutive Expression of eGFP. Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE). 2023, 194: doi: 10.3791/64939
  4. Llanes A, Cruz G, Morán M, Vega C, Pineda VJ, Ríos M, Penagos H, Suárez JA, Saldaña A, Lleonart R, Restrepo CM. Genomic diversity and genetic variation of Leishmania panamensis within its endemic range. Infect Genet Evol. 2022 Sep;103:105342. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2022.105342. Epub 2022 Jul 22. PMID: 35878820.
  5. Restrepo, C.M., Llanes, A., Herrera, L., Ellis, E., Lleonart, R., Fernández, PL. Gene expression patterns associated with Leishmania panamensis infection in macrophages from BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2021, 15(2): e0009225. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009225
  6. Restrepo, C.M.†; Fábrega, L.†; Torres, A.; Smith, D.; Chan, P.; Pérez, D.; Cumbrera, A.; Caballero E., Z. Frequency of Toxoplasma gondii and Risk Factors Associated with the Infection in Stray Dogs and Cats of Panama. Microorganisms 2020, 8, 927, doi:10.3390/microorganisms8060927. (†Primera autoría compartida).
  7. Restrepo, C.M.†; Llanes, A.†; Cedeño, E.M.; Chang, J.H.; Álvarez, J.; Ríos, M.; Penagos, H.; Suárez, J.A.; Lleonart, R. Environmental Conditions May Shape the Patterns of Genomic Variations in Leishmania panamensis. Genes (Basel). 2019, 10, 838, doi:10.3390/genes10110838. (†Primera autoría compartida).
  8. Restrepo, C.M.; Llanes, A.; Lleonart, R. Use of AFLP for the study of eukaryotic pathogens affecting humans. Infect. Genet. Evol. 2018, 63, 360–369,doi:10.1016/j.meegid.201709017.
  9. Restrepo CM, Llanes A, De La Guardia C, Lleonart R. Genome-wide discovery and development of polymorphic microsatellites from Leishmania panamensis parasites circulating in central Panama. Parasites & Vectors. 2015, 8:527. doi:10.1186/s13071-015-1153-2.
  10. Restrepo CM, De La Guardia C, Sousa OE, Calzada JE, LFernández P, Lleonart R. AFLP Polymorphisms Allow High Resolution Genetic Analysis of American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis Agents Circulating in Panama and Other Members of the Leishmania Genus. PLoS ONE. 2013, 8(9): e73177. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0073177.
  11. Coronado LM, De La Guardia CI, González YS, Restrepo CM, Tayler NM (2011). DNA Repair Mechanisms as Drug Targets in Prokaryotes. Current Trends in Biotechnology and Pharmacy. 2011, 5(3): 1206-1232. (All authors contributed equally).
  12. Restrepo CM, Pérez Lao E, De La Guardia C, Calzada JE, Sousa OE, Lleonart R. Amplified fragment length polymorphisms reveals high intraspecific variability in field isolates of Leishmania panamensis. Current Trends in Biotechnology and Pharmacy. 2011, 5: 1183-92.

Publications

Second author
  1. Llanes, A.; Restrepo, C.M.; Caballero, Z.; Rajeev, S.; Kennedy, M.A.; Lleonart, R. Betacoronavirus Genomes: How Genomic Information has been Used to Deal with Past Outbreaks and the COVID-19 Pandemic. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 4546, doi:10.3390/ijms21124546.
  2. Llanes, A.; Restrepo, C.M.; Lleonart, R. VianniaTopes: a database of predicted immunogenic peptides for Leishmania (Viannia) species. Database (Oxford). 2018, 2018, bay111, doi:10.1093/database/bay111.
  3. Llanes, A.; Restrepo, C.M.; Riesgo-Ferreiro, P.; Rajeev, S. Genomic Variability among Field Isolates and Laboratory-Adapted Strains of Leptospira borgpetersenii Serovar Hardjo. J. Microbiol. 2018, 2018, 1–12, doi:10.1155/2018/2137036.
  4. Llanes A, Restrepo CM, Rajeev S. Whole Genome Sequencing Allows Better Understanding of the Evolutionary History of Leptospira interrogans Serovar Hardjo. PLoS ONE. 2016, 11(7): e0159387. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159387.
  5. Llanes A, Restrepo CM, Del Vecchio G, Anguizola FJ, and Lleonart R (2015). The genome of Leishmania panamensis: insights into genomics of the L. (Viannia) subgenus. Scientific Reports. 2015, 5, 8550 doi:10.1038/srep08550.

Publications

Collaborations
  1. Madrigal M, Fernández PL, Lleonart R, Carreño L, Villalobos Gorday KA, Rodríguez E, de Cupeiro K, Restrepo CM, Rao KSJ, Riordan NH. Comparison of Cost and Potency of Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Conditioned Medium Derived from 2- and 3-Dimensional Cultures. Bioengineering (Basel). 2023 Aug 4;10(8):930. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering10080930. PMID: 37627815; PMCID: PMC10451979.
  2. Felín MS, Wang K, Moreira A, Grose A, Leahy K, Zhou Y, Clouser FA, Siddiqui M, Leong N, Goodall P, Michalowski M, Ismail M, Christmas M, Schrantz S, Caballero Z, Norero X, Estripeaut D, Ellis D, Raggi C, Castro C, Moossazadeh D, Ramirez M, Pandey A, Ashi K, Dovgin S, Dixon A, Li X, Begeman I, Heichman S, Lykins J, Villalobos-Cerrud D, Fabrega L, Montalvo JLS, Mendivil C, Quijada MR, Fernández-Pirla S, de La Guardia V, Wong D, de Guevara ML, Flores C, Borace J, García A, Caballero N, Rengifo-Herrera C, de Saez MTM, Politis M, Ross S, Dogra M, Dhamsania V, Graves N, Kirchberg M, Mathur K, Aue A, Restrepo CM et al. Building Programs to Eradicate Toxoplasmosis Part IV: Understanding and Development of Public Health Strategies and Advances “Take a Village”. Curr Pediatr Rep. 2022;10(3):125-154. doi: 10.1007/s40124-022-00268-x. Epub 2022 Aug 16. PMID: 35991908; PMCID: PMC9379243.
  3. Felín MS, Wang K, Raggi C, Moreira A, Pandey A, Grose A, Caballero Z, Rengifo-Herrera C, Ramirez M, Moossazadeh D, Castro C, Montalvo JLS, Leahy K, Zhou Y, Clouser FA, Siddiqui M, Leong N, Goodall P, Michalowski M, Ismail M, Christmas M, Schrantz S, Norero X, Estripeaut D, Ellis D, Ashi K, Dovgin S, Dixon A, Li X, Begeman I, Heichman S, Lykins J, Villalobos-Cerrud D, Fabrega L, Mendivil C, Quijada MR, Fernández-Pirla S, de La Guardia V, Wong D, de LadrónGuevara M, Flores C, Borace J, García A, Caballero N, de Saez MTM, Politis M, Ross S, Dogra M, Dhamsania V, Graves N, Kirchberg M, Mathur K, Aue A, Restrepo CM, et al. Building Programs to Eradicate Toxoplasmosis Part III: Epidemiology and Risk Factors. Curr Pediatr Rep. 2022 Sep;10(3):109-124. doi: 10.1007/s40124-022-00265-0. Epub 2022 Jun 22. PMID: 37744780; PMCID: PMC10516319.
  4. Felín MS, Wang K, Moreira A, Grose A, Leahy K, Zhou Y, Clouser FA, Siddiqui M, Leong N, Goodall P, Michalowski M, Ismail M, Christmas M, Schrantz S, Caballero Z, Norero X, Estripeaut D, Ellis D, Raggi C, Castro C, Rengifo-Herrera C, Moossazadeh D, Ramirez M, Pandey A, Ashi K, Dovgin S, Dixon A, Li X, Begeman I, Heichman S, Lykins J, Villalobos-Cerrud D, Fabrega L, Montalvo JLS, Mendivil C, Quijada MR, Fernández-Pirla S, de La Guardia V, Wong D, de Guevara ML, Flores C, Borace J, García A, Caballero N, de Saez MTM, Politis M, Ross S, Dogra M, Dhamsania V, Graves N, Kirchberg M, Mathur K, Aue A, Restrepo CM, et al. Building Programs to Eradicate Toxoplasmosis Part II: Education. Curr Pediatr Rep. 2022 Sep;10(3):93-108. doi: 10.1007/s40124-022-00267-y. Epub 2022 Aug 1. PMID: 36969368; PMCID: PMC10035399.
  5. Felín MS, Wang K, Moreira A, Grose A, Leahy K, Zhou Y, Clouser FA, Siddiqui M, Leong N, Goodall P, Michalowski M, Ismail M, Christmas M, Schrantz S, Caballero Z, Norero X, Estripeaut D, Ellis D, Raggi C, Castro C, Moossazadeh D, Ramirez M, Pandey A, Ashi K, Dovgin S, Dixon A, Li X, Begeman I, Heichman S, Lykins J, Villalobos-Cerrud D, Fabrega L, Montalvo JLS, Mendivil C, Quijada MR, Fernández-Pirla S, de La Guardia V, Wong D, de Guevara ML, Flores C, Borace J, García A, Caballero N, Rengifo-Herrera C, de Saez MTM, Politis M, Wroblewski K, Karrison T, Ross S, Dogra M, Dhamsania V, Graves N, Kirchberg M, Mathur K, Aue A, Restrepo CM, et al. Building Programs to Eradicate Toxoplasmosis Part I: Introduction and Overview. Curr Pediatr Rep. 2022;10(3):57-92. doi: 10.1007/s40124-022-00269-w. Epub 2022 Aug 22. PMID: 36034212; PMCID: PMC9395898.
  6. Flores C, Villalobos-Cerrud D, Borace J, Fábrega L, Norero X, Sáez-Llorens X, Moreno MT, Restrepo CM, Llanes A, Quijada R M, Ladrón De Guevara M, Guzmán G, de la Guardia V, García A, Lucero MF, Wong D, Mcleod R, Soberon M, Caballero E Z. Epidemiological Aspects of Maternal and Congenital Toxoplasmosis in Panama. Pathogens. 2021 Jun 17;10(6):764. doi: 10.3390/pathogens10060764. PMID: 34204401; PMCID: PMC8234371.
  7. Llanes, A.; Ortiz, L.; Moscoso, J.; Gutiérrez, G, Blake, E.; Restrepo, C.M.; Lleonart, R.; Cuero, C.; Vernaza-Kwiers, A. HLA allele and haplotype frequencies in the Panamanian population. Human Immunology. 2021, (82) 1, doi: 10.1016/j.humimm.2020.11.006.
  8. Villarrel, A., Rangel, G., et al., Restrepo, C., et al. Performance of a point of care test for detecting IgM and IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and preliminary seroprevalence in community and healthcare workers of Panama. Frontiers in Medicine. 2021, doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.616106.
  9. Herrera, L.; Llanes, A.; Álvarez, J.; Degracia, K.; Restrepo, C.M.; Rivera, R.; Stephens, D.E.; Dang, H.T.; Larionov, O. V.; Lleonart, R.; et al. Antileishmanial activity of a new chloroquine analog in an animal model of Leishmania panamensis infection. J. Parasitol. Drugs Drug Resist. 2020, 14, 56–61, doi:10.1016/j.ijpddr.2020.08.002.
  10. Llanes, A.; Prakoso, D.; Restrepo, C.M.; Rajeev, S. Complete Genome Sequence of a Virulent Leptospira interrogans Serovar Copenhageni Strain, Assembled with a Combination of Nanopore and Illumina Reads. Resour. Announc. 2020, 9, doi:10.1128/MRA.00200-20.
  11. Rajeev, S.; Shiokawa, K.; Llanes, A.; Rajeev, M.; Restrepo, C.M.; Chin, R.; Cedeño, E.; Ellis, E. Detection and Characterization of Leptospira Infection and Exposure in Rats on the Caribbean Island of Saint Kitts. Animals 2020, 10, 350, doi:10.3390/ani10020350.
  12. González Y, Doens D, Santamaría R, Ramos M, Restrepo CM, et al. A Pseudopterane Diterpene Isolated From the Octocoral Pseudopterogorgia acerosa Inhibits the Inflammatory Response Mediated by TLR-Ligands and TNF-Alpha in Macrophages. PLoS ONE. 2013, 8(12): e84107. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084107. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084107.
Carlos Restrepo

Carlos Mario Restrepo Arboleda, PhD

Highest degree of studies: Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Biotechnology, Acharya Nagarjuna University/INDICASAT AIP.

Category: Researcher

Contact information:

E-mail: crestrepo@indicasat.org.pa

Carlos Restrepo, PhD Resume

Resume in English

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