{"id":19926,"date":"2025-06-24T16:01:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T16:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/ramp-up\/?page_id=19926"},"modified":"2025-06-24T17:09:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T17:09:24","slug":"melvin-o-pagan-figueroa-2025-2026","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/ramp-up\/melvin-o-pagan-figueroa-2025-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Melvin O. Pag\u00e1n Figueroa (2025-2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLinkedin<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Short Bio<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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My name is Melvin Pag\u00e1n<\/strong>. <\/b><\/span><\/span> I am from <\/span>A\u00f1asco<\/span>, Puerto Rico; I obtained my industrial microbiology baccalaureate degree from the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez. I like to watch movies, see sports and hang out with my friends and family. <\/span>I aspire to pursue a PhD as I am aiming to be a future researcher and professor in academia. I am using CRISPR\/Cas9 genome editing to investigate the roles of <\/span><\/span>gadB<\/span><\/span> and <\/span><\/span>yjeM<\/span><\/span> in <\/span><\/span>Lactiplantibacillus plantarum <\/span><\/span>isolated from wild <\/span><\/span>Drosophila melanogaster<\/span><\/span>, focusing on their contribution to GABA biosynthesis and its effects on bacterial and host phenotypes<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A fun fact or hobby:<\/b><\/em>\u00a0I like “arroz con <\/span>gandules<\/span>” but not so much “arroz con <\/span>habichuelas<\/span>“<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Research<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Mentor:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Imilce Rodr\u00edguez Fern\u00e1ndez, PhD<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Co-mentor:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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n\/a<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Project Title:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Functional Analysis of GABA-Associated Genes in <\/span><\/span>Lactiplantibacillus plantarum<\/span><\/span> Using CRISPR\/Cas9CRISPR\/Cas9-Mediated Reporter Knock-ins in <\/span><\/span>Lactiplantibacillus plantarum<\/span><\/span> to Evaluate GABA Function<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Project Description:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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This project aims to <\/span>identify<\/span> and disrupt the <\/span><\/span>gadB<\/span><\/span> and <\/span><\/span>yjeM<\/span><\/span> genes in a wild <\/span><\/span>L. plantarum<\/span><\/span> strain using CRISPR\/Cas9. These genes are involved in GABA production and export. By generating targeted knockouts, we will assess the impact on bacterial traits (e.g., growth, biofilm formation) and explore potential effects on <\/span><\/span>Drosophila<\/span><\/span> behavior, contributing to our understanding of microbe-host interactions mediated by neuroactive compounds<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linkedin Short Bio My name is Melvin Pag\u00e1n. I am from A\u00f1asco, Puerto Rico; I obtained my industrial microbiology baccalaureate degree from the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez. I like to watch movies, see sports and hang out with my … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19926","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/ramp-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/ramp-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/ramp-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/ramp-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/ramp-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19926"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/ramp-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19966,"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/ramp-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19926\/revisions\/19966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/ramp-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}