Camila Vicencio Esguerra

Current Positions
12/2014 – present: Group Leader, Chemical Neuroscience Group, Biotechnology Centre of Oslo, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
01/2015 - present: Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo
Academic Interests
- Novel molecular mechanisms underlying neurological disorders (e.g. Epilepsy, Schizophrenia, Alzheimer´s)
- Pharmacoresistance
- Seizure initiation (ictogenesis)
- Seizure progression (epileptogenesis)
- Comorbidities (e.g. cognitive and locomotor impairment, SUDEP (Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy Patients))
- Disease modeling in Zebrafish
- Influence of drug exposure on neural development
- Early-stage, preclinical drug discovery
- Chemical Biology
- In vivo, medium- to high-throughput chemical modifier screens
- Natural product discovery
- Pharmacological analysis of bioactive compounds
- Toxicological assessment of drugs and potential therapeutic small-molecules
- Mode of action/target identification of therapeutic lead compounds
Background
Research:
University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium:
10/2008 – 11/2014:
- Senior Scientist and Industrial Research Fellow, Laboratory for Molecular Biodiscovery, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacology
- Founder and Manager, Chemical Genetics Initiative @ KU Leuven
- Project Coordinator, PharmaSea (EU FP7 Project, 2012-2014)
08/2006 – 01/2008:
- Postdoctoral fellow, Laboratory of Catherine Verfaillie, Interdepartmental Stem Cell Institute
08/2006 – 01/2008:
- Postdoctoral fellow, Laboratory of Frank Luyten, Laboratory for Skeletal Development and Joints, Department of Musculoskeletal Sciences
02/2003 – 04/2006:
- Senior Scientist and Doctoral Candidate, Laboratory of Desiré Collen, Molecular Cardiovascular Medicine Group, Faculty of Medical Sciences
Teaching:
2015 – present:
Lecturer, School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, Norway; Organic Chemically-Based Drug Design
01/2004 – 11/2014:
Lecturer, Biomedical Sciences Group, University of Leuven, Belgium; Principles of Genetics, Model Systems in Research, Laboratory Animal Science
Education:
02/2003-07/2007: Doctor of Medical Sciences (PhD), University of Leuven, Belgium
09/1992-08/1994: Master of Philosophy (MPhil) (Developmental Genetics)
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
- MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, United Kingdom
- Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
09/1986-06/1990: Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences (BA), Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA
Current collaborations
DigiBrain
Nor-Openscreen
PharmaTox
Press clippings
Zebrafish; a see-though favourite with researchers (Uniforum, in Norwegian)
Selected publications (pdf)
Publications
- Banono, Nancy Saana & Esguerra, Camila (2020). Pharmacological validation of the prepulse inhibition of startle response in larval zebrafish using a commercial automated system and software. Journal of Visualized Experiments. ISSN 1940-087X. 161 . doi: 10.3791/61423 Full text in Research Archive.
- Banono, Nancy Saana; Gawel, Kinga Aurelia; De Witte, Linus & Esguerra, Camila (2020). Zebrafish Larvae Carrying a Splice Variant Mutation in cacna1d: A New Model for Schizophrenia-Like Behaviours?. Molecular Neurobiology. ISSN 0893-7648. . doi: 10.1007/s12035-020-02160-5
- Gawel, Kinga Aurelia; Kukula-Koch, Wirginia; Nieoczym, Dorota; Stępnik, Katarzyna; van der Ent, Wietske; Banono, Nancy Saana; Tarabasz, Dominik; Turski, Waldemar A. & Esguerra, Camila (2020). The Influence of Palmatine Isolated from Berberis sibirica Radix on Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Seizures in Zebrafish. Cells. ISSN 2073-4409. 9(5) . doi: 10.3390/cells9051233
- Copmans, Daniëlle; Kildgaard, Sara; Rasmussen, Silas A.; Ślęzak, Monika; Dirkx, Nina; Partoens, Michèle; Esguerra, Camila Vicencio; Crawford, Alexander Dettmar; Larsen, Thomas O. & de Witte, Peter A.M. (2019). Zebrafish-based discovery of antiseizure compounds from the north sea: Isoquinoline alkaloids TMC-120A and TMC-120B. Marine Drugs. ISSN 1660-3397. 17:607(11), s 1- 20 . doi: 10.3390/md17110607 Full text in Research Archive.
- Abudu, Yakubu Princely; Pankiv, Serhiy; Mathai, Benan John; Lystad, Alf Håkon; Bindesbøll, Christian; Brenne, Hanne Britt; Ng, Matthew Yoke Wui; Thiede, Bernd; Yamamoto, Ai; Nthiga, Thaddaeus Mutugi; Lamark, Trond; Esguerra, Camila Vicencio; Johansen, Terje & Simonsen, Anne (2019). NIPSNAP1 and NIPSNAP2 act as “eat-me signal” for mitophagy. Developmental Cell. ISSN 1534-5807. 49(4), s 509- 525.e12 . doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2019.03.013 Full text in Research Archive.
- Gawel, Kinga Aurelia; Banono, Nancy Saana; Michalak, Agnieszka & Esguerra, Camila Vicencio (2019). A critical review of zebrafish schizophrenia models: Time for validation?. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. ISSN 0149-7634. 107, s 6- 22 . doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.08.001
- Nieoczym, Dorota; Socala, Katarzyna; Gawel, Kinga Aurelia; Esguerra, Camila Vicencio; Wyska, Elzbieta & Wlaz, Piotr (2019). Anticonvulsant Activity of Pterostilbene in Zebrafish and Mouse Acute Seizure Tests. Neurochemical Research. ISSN 0364-3190. 44(5), s 1043- 1055 . doi: 10.1007/s11064-019-02735-2 Full text in Research Archive.
- Sisodiya, Sanjay M.; Fowler, Hayley J.; Lake, Iain; Nanji, Rosemary Ogwen; Gawel, Kinga Aurelia; Esguerra, Camila Vicencio; Newton, Charles & Foley, Aideen (2019). Climate change and epilepsy: Time to take action. Epilepsia Open. ISSN 2470-9239. 4(4), s 524- 536 . doi: 10.1002/epi4.12359 Full text in Research Archive.
- Leclercq, K; Afrikanova, Tatiana; Langlois, M.; De Prins, A; Buenafe, OE; Rospo, CC; Van Eeckhaut, A; deWitte, P; Crawford, AD; Smolders, I; Esguerra, Camila Vicencio & Kaminski, RM (2015). Cross-species pharmacological characterization of the allylglycine seizure model in mice and larval zebrafish. Epilepsy & Behavior. ISSN 1525-5050. 45, s 53- 63 . doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2015.03.019
- Schubert, Julian; Siekierska, Aleksandra; Langlois, Melanie; May, Patrick; Huneau, Clément; Becker, Felicitas; Muhle, Hiltrud; Suls, Arvid; Lemke, Johannes R.; de Kovel, Carolien G.F.; Thiele, Holger; Konrad, Kathryn; Kawalia, Amit; Toliat, Mohammad Reza; Sander, Thomas; Ruschendorf, Franz; Caliebe, Almuth; Nagel, Inga; Kohl, Bernard; Kecskés, Angéla; Jacmin, Maxime; Hardies, Katia; Weckhuysen, Sarah; Riesch, Erik; Dorn, Thomas; Brilstra, Eva H.; Baulac, Stephanie; Møller, Rikke S.; Hjalgrim, Helle; Koeleman, Bobby P.C.; Jurkat-Rott, Karin; Lehmann-Horn, Frank; Roach, Jared C.; Glusman, Gustavo; Hood, Leroy; Galas, David J.; Martin, Benoit; De Witte, Peter A.M.; Biskup, Saskia; De Jonghe, Peter; Helbig, Ingo; Balling, Rudi; Nürnberg, Peter; Crawford, Alexander D.; Esguerra, Camila Vicencio; Weber, Yvonne G. & Lerche, Holger (2014). Mutations in STX1B, encoding a presynaptic protein, cause fever-associated epilepsy syndromes. Nature Genetics. ISSN 1061-4036. 46, s 1327- 1332 . doi: 10.1038/ng.3130
- Banono, Nancy Saana; Gawel, Kinga Aurelia; De Witte, Linus & Esguerra, Camila (2020). Zebrafish larvae carrying a mutation in cacna1d display schizophrenia-like behaviours.