Daniel Oswaldo Maldonado (far left) poses with GHI One Health Center-Colombia team (Photo from GHI archives)
By Kendall Buehl, GHI Staffer…Biological engineer Daniel Oswaldo Maldonado has always believed the best way to understand biological phenomena is by integrating different disciplines of knowledge. That’s why he earned a bachelor’s degree in biological engineering and a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL) and is a current PhD student in comparative biomedical sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“I like working with GHI because of their commitment to One Health, which sees animal, human, and environmental health as interconnected,” Maldonado says. “One Health helps to prevent, predict, and detect different diseases or risk factors by integrating science, society, and health institutions, and I appreciate being able to develop solutions to these multi-level global health challenges.”
Although Maldonado has been in Madison a year, he started working with GHI in 2019 while studying for his master’s degree. During the past five years, Maldonado has collaborated on multiple transdisciplinary projects based in Colombia, including genomic surveillance, forecasting of dengue cases through data science, computational biology with mathematical modeling to characterize different immune system mechanisms, virology, and molecular biology.
Since coming to UW–Madison during the Summer of 2023, Maldonado has been studying for his PhD and working as a research assistant in both the Osorio Lab, led by Dr. Jorge Osorio, GHI director and professor in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine; and the Saha Lab, led by Dr. Krishanu Saha, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering. Dr. Saha is also a faculty member with the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery.
In the Osorio Lab, Maldonado helped design, make, and test different vaccines against tropical diseases through collaborative work with the GHI One Health Center-Colombia, UW–Madison, and industry partners in Colombia. With over three years in the biotechnology industry, Maldonado has plenty of previous experiences to draw from in his PhD studies.
“I have worked through computational biology, bioinformatics, biotechnology, and process engineering to get the best analysis and solution in each project I have worked on,” Maldonado notes. “My experiences have solidified my belief that biotechnology offers different solutions and opportunities to global challenges, such as creating products to improve the quality of life.”
Currently, Maldonado is researching CAR-NK cells as a therapy for cancer at the Saha Lab. CAR-NK cell therapy boosts the body’s ability to fight cancer by attaching chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) to natural killer cells (NK). The lab is already making breakthroughs in fighting cancer with T cells, which excites all for future collaborations and discoveries.
As one of Maldonado’s mentors, Saha praises his work.
“Daniel’s exceptional talents in biotechnology, and unique perspectives in applying our CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) techniques for new therapies, are truly inspiring,” Saha shares. “His swift integration into our lab fills me with excitement about our shared interests in making a global impact.”
According to Maldonado, the appreciation goes both ways.
“I’m thrilled to learn and work with my mentors due to their experiences, knowledge, and novel ideas they have with their research projects,” Maldonado adds. “I love studying and researching complex biological systems, so collaborating with them is the perfect opportunity for me.”
That being said, Maldonado’s story in biotechnology isn’t coming to an end anytime soon. He plans to continue learning and making connections wherever he goes on his PhD journey and in his exciting future, always remembering the importance of One Health in understanding the world and the health of its global citizens.
If you enjoyed his story and want to connect or collaborate, email Daniel Oswaldo Maldonado at domaldonado@wisc.edu, or contact GHI.