Frontiers in Molecular Bioscience

Sebastian Alvarado worked at three separate biotechnology startups in Canada and the USA before pursuing a Ph.D. at McGill University. Following his doctoral research, he was awarded an A.P. Giannini Fellowship to continue his work at Stanford University. Dr. Alvarado is interested in how plastic molecular substrates can shape a genome to dynamic changes in the environment. His research has shown how diverse animals can shape the function of their genes to changes in size, metabolism, chronic pain, and social status. These projects have allowed him to study shrinking/enlarging ants, hibernating ground squirrels, human/mouse models of back pain, and cichlid fish from Africa. He is currently an assistant professor at the City University of New York where he is leading research related to how different animals adapt their color and behavior to changing visual environments. Outside of his research program, Sebastian consults science to the entertainment sector (Marvel, WB, etc) and has recently authored a book about the "Science of Marvel".