Sergio Adorna Sánchez
Group: Bioorganic and Supramolecular Chemistry of Carbohydrates
Position: PhD Student
Contact
Tel. ext: 446229
Laboratory: L 209
Email:
Biography
Sergio Adorna Sánchez graduated in Chemistry in 2020, receiving the Special Award for Academic Excellence from the University of Seville. During his studies, he was awarded a collaboration grant under the supervision of Ana Teresa Carmona Asenjo (US), working on the study of oxanorbornadiene derivatives as linkers for ADCs (antibody-drug conjugates). Given his interest in the fields of organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry, he completed the Master’s Degree in Organic Chemistry at the Complutense University of Madrid during the 2021-2022 period. During this stage, he carried out a research stay at the Institute of Medicinal Chemistry (IQM-CSIC) through a JAE Intro grant (10/2021 – 06/2022), where, under the supervision of María J. Pérez Pérez, he worked on the design and synthesis of entry inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 based on tryptophan derivatives.
In December 2022, he enrolled the Bioorganic and Supramolecular Carbohydrate Chemistry group at the Institute of Chemical Research (IIQ-CSIC) as contracted staff, formally beginning his PhD in December 2023 through an FPI contract under the supervision of José M. García Fernández and Juan M. Benito.
Research interest
His research is developed mainly along three key lines:
- Precision macromolecular chemistry, focused on selective functionalization and orthogonal synthetic methodologies (including click-type reactions) for the structural and functional diversification of macromolecules, with particular interest in cyclodextrins. Within this line, he carried out a 3-month research stay at CarboHyde (Hungary) with Dr. Milo Malanga, focused on the optimization and scalability of chemical processes, within the framework of the MSCA-SE Bicyclos project (www.bicyclos.eu).
- Design, synthesis and evaluation of artificial viruses based on molecularly well-defined carbohydrate derivatives for cell transfection. Evaluation and optimization nucleic acid carriers for gene therapy based on the elucidation of structure/activity relationships (MiCInn projects PID2021-124247OB-C21 y PID2024-157753OB-C21).
- Design, synthesis and evaluation of polycationic cyclodextrin derivatives as antimicrobial agents, an area in which he carried out a 3-month research stay in Bologna (Italy) with Prof. Francesca Bonvicini, working on the biological evaluation of these compounds, within the framework of the MSCA-SE Bicyclos project (www.bicyclos.eu).