Guillermo Arango Duque is a cell biologist who obtained his Honours Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) from the University of Toronto. There, he joined Dr. Liliana Attisano’s laboratory to study how the cytochrome P450 enzyme is regulated by the Wnt signaling pathway. He undertook graduate studies at the INRS – Centre Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie, where he investigated the cell biology of host-parasite interactions in Dr. Albert Descoteaux’s laboratory. Dr. Arango Duque’s thesis focused on how the intracellular parasite Leishmania disrupts macrophage biology. He also elucidated the role of various vesicle fusion molecules on inflammatory mediator release. He then joined the laboratory of Dr. Michel Desjardins to characterize the role of Parkinson’s disease-associated genes in mitochondrial antigen presentation.

After obtaining a top-ranked postdoctoral fellowship from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé (#CommunautéFRQ), Dr. Arango Duque joined the Swirski laboratory in November 2021. His project will investigate the impact of psychosocial stress and drug addiction on the immune and cardiovascular systems. In his free time, Dr. Arango Duque enjoys scuba diving, surfing, reading detective novels, and exploring the local food scene.