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Pedro Andrés Saa Higuera

Profesor Asistente

Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

Santiago, Chile

Líneas de Investigación


My research interests include metabolic network and biosystems modelling. My main goal is to develop useful computational tools rooted on advanced optimization and statistical learning methods to gain novel insights into biological systems.

Educación

  •  Systems biology, UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND. Australia, 2017
  •  Ingeneria Quimica y Bioprocesos, PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE. Chile, 2012
  •  Ingeniero civil de Biotecnologia, PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE. Chile, 2012

Experiencia Académica

  •   Ayudante de catedra - Algebra lineal Other

    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

    Facultad de Matematicas

    Santiago, Chile

    2008 - 2008

  •   Ayudante de catedra - Termodinamica Other

    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

    Facultad de Ingenieria

    Santiago, Chile

    2009 - 2009

  •   Ayudante de catedra - Fenomenos de transporte Other

    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

    Facultad de Ingenieria

    Santiago, Chile

    2012 - 2012

  •   Ayudante instructor - Dinamica y Control de Procesos Other

    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

    Facultad de Ingenieria

    Santiago, Chile

    2012 - 2012

  •   Ayudante instructor - Biotecnologia microbiana Other

    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

    Facultad de Ingenieria

    Santiago, Chile

    2012 - 2012

  •   Teaching Assistant - Metabolic Engineering Other

    UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

    Brisbane, Australia

    2016 - 2016

  •   Profesor Asistente Adjunto Part Time

    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

    Facultad de Ingenieria

    Santiago, Chile

    2017 - 2018

  •   Profesor Asistente Full Time

    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

    Facultad de Ingenieria

    Santiago, Chile

    2018 - A la fecha

Experiencia Profesional

  •   Project Engineer Full Time

    Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

    Santiago, Chile

    2013 - 2013

  •   Project Engineer Full Time

    Fraunhofer Chile Research Foundation

    Santiago de Chile, Chile

    2012 - 2013

  •   Investigador Part Time

    Universidad de Chile

    Santiago, Chile

    2017 - 2018

  •   Investigador Part Time

    Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

    Santiago, Chile

    2017 - 2018

Formación de Capital Humano


Ibaceta M (2018 – 2019) Master of Engineering Science, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago Chile. Co-supervisor.
Thesis title: “Bioprocess engineering for the production of ionones in Saccharomyces cerevisiae”


Premios y Distinciones

  •   Best Master Thesis

    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

    Chile, 2013

    Mejor Tesis de Magíster mención Ingeniería Química y Bioprocesos, Promoción 2012-2013

  •   Top graduate student

    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA CAMPINAS

    Chile, 2013

    Mejor alumno de Magíster mención Ingeniería Química y Bioprocesos, Promoción 2012-2013

  •   Teaching Excellence Award

    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

    Chile, 2018

    Premio a la excelencia académica del Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Bioprocesos, Categoría Adjunta

  •   Premio a la Innovación

    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

    Chile, 2021

    Premio anual a la Innovación otorgado por la Escuela de Ingeniería UC por el desarrollo de modelo y kit olfativo para la detección rápida de individuos sospechosos de tener COVID19

  •   Conference Junior Researcher Grant

    Organizing Committee Metabolic Engineering Conference

    Alemania, 2018

    Apoyo para asistir y presentar investigación en la conferencia internacional ME-12, München, Alemania. Junio 2018

  •   Premio Excelencia a la Docencia Profesores Jornada Parcial

    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

    Chile, 2018

    Premio Excelencia a la Docencia Profesores Jornada Parcial. Escuela de Ingeniería UC


 

Article (28)

Genome-scale metabolic modeling of the human milk oligosaccharide utilization by Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis
LooplessFluxSampler: an efficient toolbox for sampling the loopless flux solution space of metabolic models
Importance of microbial interactions in colonization resistance and gut dysbiosis: role of Bifidobacterium
GRASP: A computational platform for building kinetic models of cell metabolism
Metabolic Modeling and Bidirectional Culturing of Two Gut Microbes Reveal Cross-Feeding Interactions and Protective Effects on Intestinal Cells
Modeling approaches for probing cross-feeding interactions in the human gut microbiome
The topology of genome-scale metabolic reconstructions unravels independent modules and high network flexibility
A robust hybrid observer for monitoring high-cell density cultures exhibiting overflow metabolism
Robust control of fed-batch high-cell density cultures: a simulation-based assessment
Screening of COVID-19 cases through a Bayesian network symptoms model and psychophysical olfactory test
Engineering Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the Overproduction of beta-Ionone and Its Precursor beta-Carotene
Genomic integration of unclonable gene expression cassettes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using rapid cloning-free workflows
Inferring composition and function of the human gut microbiome in time and space: A review of genome-scale metabolic modelling tools
Build Your Bioprocess on a Solid Strain-beta-Carotene Production in Recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Contextualized genome-scale model unveils high-order metabolic effects of the specific growth rate and oxygenation level in recombinant Pichia pastoris
From reconstruction to C-4 metabolic engineering: A case study for overproduction of polyhydroxybutyrate in bioenergy grasses
Formulation, construction and analysis of kinetic models of metabolism: A review of modelling frameworks
A probabilistic framework for the exploration of enzymatic capabilities based on feasible kinetics and control analysis
Construction of feasible and accurate kinetic models of metabolism: A Bayesian approach
Fast-SNP: a fast matrix pre-processing algorithm for efficient loopless flux optimization of metabolic models
ll-ACHRB: a scalable algorithm for sampling the feasible solution space of metabolic networks
A General Framework for Thermodynamically Consistent Parameterization and Efficient Sampling of Enzymatic Reactions
A multi-tissue genome-scale metabolic modelling for the analysis of whole plant systems
Effective dissolved oxygen control strategy for high-cell-density cultures
Oxygen Incorporation and Dissolution During Industrial-Scale Red Wine Fermentations
Impact of carbon dioxide injection on oxygen dissolution rate during oxygen additions in a bubble column
Modeling oxygen dissolution and biological uptake during pulse oxygen additions in oenological fermentations
Improved calibration of a solid substrate fermentation model

BookSection (2)

Metabolic modelling of wine fermentation at genome scale
Rational metabolic pathway prediction and design: Computational tools and their applications for yeast systems and synthetic biology

Proyecto (5)

Sustainable production of mealybug pheromones using engineered biological systems
A general Bayesian framework for leveraging existing kinetic data and thermodynamic constraints for constructing accurate models of cellular metabolism
Identification and modeling of cross-feeding interactions in the gut microbiome for designing microbial communities
Gestión del potencial redox en la cadena de elaboración del vino y su impacto en la calidad
Oxygen Management during Winemaking

Review (1)

Expanding Metabolic Capabilities Using Novel Pathway Designs: Computational Tools and Case Studies
34
Pedro Saa

Profesor Asistente

Departmento de Ingenieria Quimica y Bioprocesos

Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

Santiago, Chile

8
Eduardo Agosin

Full Professor

Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering

PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

Santiago, Chile

5
José Pérez

Profesor Titular

Ingeniería Química y Bioprocesos

PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

Santiago, Chile

3
Daniel Garrido

Associate Professor

Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Santiago, Chile

2
Lisbel Bárzaga

Profesor Auxiliar

Departamento de Ing. Eléctrica

Universidad de Chile

Santiago de Chile, Chile

2
Vicente Cataldo

Research assistant

Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Santiago, Chile

1
Alejandro Maass

Main Researcher

Center for Mathematical Modeling

Universidad de Chile

Santiago, Chile

1
Alberto Martin

Associate professor

Centro Ciencia & Vida

Universidad San Sebastián

Santiago, Chile

1
Marcelo Arenas

Full Professor

Computer Sciences

Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

Santiago, Chile

1
Susana Eyheramendy

Full Professor

Universidad Adolfo Ibánez

Santiago, Chile

1
Sandra Solari

Profesor Clinico Asociado

Laboratorios Clinicos

Facultad de Medicina - PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DE CHILE

Santiago, Chile

1
Diego Celentano

Full Professor

Mechanical and Metallurgical Engineering

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

santiago de chile, Chile

1
Víctor Laurie

Profesor Titular

Horticultura

Universidad de Talca

Talca, Chile

1
Mario Fernández

Profesor Asistente

Ingeniería Eléctrica

Universidad de Talca

Curico, Chile