Entrepreneurial PhD
PhD: Building a better understanding of acetogen's metabolism
Diana is an international student currently pursuing a PhD at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) in Dr Esteban Marcellin research group.
She is a Colombian biologist and microbiologist with a Masters degree in Microbiology. Her research project is directed to the production of medium carbon-chain compounds through Clostridium autoethanogenum, a CO and CO2-consuming bacterium.
This project makes part of the collaborative partnership with LanzaTech, a multi-national Biotech company that currently produces and commercialises ethanol from the CO that is emitted during the steel mill process. She has held various professional roles within the education and agriculture sectors in Colombia.
Diana is a person with albinism, a genetic condition which she was born with. In addition to the papers that she has published about this subject and the conferences attended, she created an NGO Albinos por Colombia which works in cooperation with other NGOs for people with albinism worldwide.
Diana not only wants to be a scientist, but also, a Biotech-business fosterer and a business entrepreneur. She was honoured to receive the UQ Entrepreneurial PhD top-up Scholarship which will allow her to acquire technical entrepreneurial knowledge and learn from the experience of other Biotech entrepreneurs.
Diana enjoys reading books, travelling to new places. One might find her dancing Latin rhythms, such as salsa, sharing time with friends or playing Brazilian drums.
