The international ScholarGPS platform, based in California USA, and specialized in the analysis and ranking of researchers and institutions around the world, has just placed Dr Juan Fontecilla-Camps, from the Metalloproteins group at the IBS, among the 0,05% of the most influential researchers worldwide in the “Active Site/Chemistry” category. Dr Juan Fontecilla-Camps appears in 12th place in the 2022 “Highly Ranked ScholarsTM ” world ranking, established by ScholarGPS in this category. For this recognition, ranking data was compiled over his entire career.
The work of Dr. Juan Fontecilla focuses on the structural biology study of proteins that coordinate metal ions, such as nickel and iron, the latter often present in the form of [Fe-S] clusters. These proteins can, for example, catalyze the oxidation of hydrogen or the fixation of carbon by reducing CO2 to acetate. Their study sheds fundamental light on the existing metabolisms at the origin of life, but can also be of applied interest, for example for the design of fuel cells. Indeed, understanding how metalloproteins work helps researchers to mimic their active sites in order to design catalysts for various applications. Furthermore, certain metalloproteins involved in cellular respiration or metabolic regulation constitute potential targets for antibacterial antibiotics.
This prestigious recognition rewards a record of 254 publications and 19,968 citations, which highlights a remarkable contribution to the study of the structure/function relationships of metalloproteins !
