Biography:

Dr. Gonzalo obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Chemistry from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie. He completed two years of postdoctoral research in the field of nanophotonics at the Center for Research in Optics (CIO), and various additional research stays at the Autonomous University of Madrid, Paris Descartes University, and Rhodes University in South Africa. Since 2021, he has been a full-time research professor at the Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada (CFATA) at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He is the author of more than 38 JCR articles, 3 book chapters, and 2 patent applications. He has also supervised the theses of more than 15 undergraduate and graduate students.

His area of expertise is the development and application of nanomaterials with relevant optical properties such as persistent luminescence, upconversion emissions, quantum confinement, nanoplasmonics, and resonance energy transfer. He has experience in the design and synthesis of these nanomaterials, the functionalization and modification of their surfaces, the assessment of their interactions with macromolecules and biological elements, as well as the study of their biocompatibility and applications in in vitro and in vivo models. In general, his research projects have focused on the development of nanomaterials for theranostics and nanosensors.

Lecture: "Resonance Energy Transfer in Nanomaterials"

Energy transfer occurs in our universe through radiation, spanning different scales from atomic to interstellar. At the nanoscale, energy can be transferred from an excited luminescent donor to an acceptor through the process of Resonance Energy Transfer (RET). In this presentation, we will showcase various strategies for activating and modulating RET by achieving the appropriate structural and spectral coupling between luminescent donor nanoparticles and specific chemical entities. This offers excellent opportunities for the development of photoactivable materials with applications in biological imaging, photodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, controlled drug release, and optical nanosensors for multiple biological analytes of interest.

Seminar: "Optical nanosensors for biomedical and environmental applications"

The development of practical and sensitive analytical tools for the detection and quantification of biomedically and environmentally relevant analytes could help promote healthcare, environmental conservation, and sustainable food production systems. In this seminar, we will describe examples developed in our laboratory that illustrate how nanophotonics can provide these analytical tools as a result of the simultaneous interaction of certain nanomaterials with light, giving rise to optical nanosensors. These devices can interact with the species of interest and provide a modifiable response based on their concentration. Depending on the complexity and requirements of these nanosensors, interpretation can be carried out in a laboratory using portable spectrometers, simple electronic devices capable of measuring absorption or luminescent emissions, using smartphones, or even with the naked eye.