Visiting PhD student
Esteban Charria Girón is a PhD student at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany. Originally, from Cali, Colombia, Esteban obtained his bachelor's degree in Biochemical Engineering in 2021 from Universidad ICESI, where he developed a fascination for the biotechnological potential of Colombian fungal species. As part of a grant from the Colombian Ministry of Health, he completed an internship in the Microbial Drugs Department at HZI, led by Prof. Marc Stadler, investigating secondary metabolites produced by native fungi from his hometown.
Esteban later joined HZI as a PhD student, co-supervised by Prof. Marc Stadler and Prof. Mark Brönstrup, where his research focuses on unraveling the secondary metabolite diversity of Sordariomycetes using advanced metabolomics approaches. His passion for understanding natural product biosynthesis has led him to collaborate with researchers like Prof. Russell Cox and, more recently, Prof. Justin van der Hooft and Prof. Marnix Medema at Wageningen University and Research (WUR). Supported by his own DAAD grant, Esteban’s current work at WUR centers on integrating large datasets of fungal genomes and metabolomes from the fungal family Hypoxylaceae (Xylariales, Ascomycota).
His goal is to prioritize novel classes of bioactive molecules for in-depth investigation, leveraging cutting-edge computational tools and metabolomics workflows. Through his research, Esteban hopes to uncover untapped fungal chemical diversity and contribute to the discovery of innovative natural products.
Embedded in the Bioinformatics Group of the Plant Sciences Group at WUR 