Miguel Chiurillo

Miguel Chiurillo is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, with prior appointments at institutions including Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado (Venezuela) and Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Brazil). His research focuses on molecular mechanisms underlying Trypanosoma cruzi adaptation, utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 to study gene functions in parasite differentiation, host-pathogen interactions, and mitochondrial bioenergetics.

• MD from Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado (1991), PhD in Biological Sciences from Universidad Simon Bolivar (1999)
• Postdoctoral training at Institute of Advanced Studies (IDEA) (Venezuela), State University of Campinas (Brazil), and University of Georgia (USA)

His work explores protein kinases in cell signaling during T. cruzi life cycle stages, linking mitochondrial calcium homeostasis to bioenergetics and life/death decisions. He has developed genomic tools for reverse genetics in trypanosomes, enabling gene knockout, endogenous tagging, and functional studies of cytokinesis regulators and signaling pathways.

Publications highlight trends in mitochondrial signaling (2021-2025), CRISPR/Cas9 applications (2016-2023), and protein kinase validation (2021). His American Heart Association Grant (2023-2025) and NIAID grant (2023-2025) fund studies on multigene analysis and barcode screening in T. cruzi.