Dr Natacha S. Ogando
Since a young age, Natacha Ogando has had a passion for science, which was perhaps sparked by exploring nature with her microscope on field walks.
She holds a strong background in microbiology and a deep fascination with viruses. Her career spans both industry— at Genentech and MedImmune/AstraZeneca— and academia, with a bachelor’s and master’s science degree at the Catholic University of Portugal and a placement at the University of Santiago de Compostela.
Throughout her career, Natacha has focused on RNA viruses, contributing to projects on norovirus and hepatitis virus detection in seafood, influenza vaccine strain selection, and antiviral screening against coronaviruses.
After earning her PhD at Leiden University, she combined her virology expertise with her interest in neuroscience during a postdoctoral fellowship at University of Alberta. She investigated the underlying mechanisms of post-COVID-19 condition in patients while characterizing a murine translational model.
Currently, she works on a Science Technology platform developing organoids and 3D cultures to study zoonotic viruses. Outside the lab, Natacha advocates for science outreach and enjoys spending time in nature.
Committees
- Member of the ImmuNet Scientific Committee for the Research Day meeting in 2023 at the University of Alberta.
- Member of the American Society of Microbiology, reviewed articles during the pandemic in 2020-2021.
Conferences
- Discovering the molecular mechanisms driving neuropsychiatric post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (neuroPASC),’ at the 5th Symposium of the Canadian Society for Virology in 2024.
- Webinar Corona research organized by Young Alumni Leiden University Network on 12th March 2021.
- The perks of coding an exoribonuclease enzyme,’ at the Control of Infectious Diseases (CID) meeting organized by Leiden University Medical Centre from 2019 to 2021.
- The enzymatic activity of the nsp14 exoribonuclease is critical for replication of MERS-CoV,’ at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society in July 2018, in Maryland.
- Identification of novel nucleoside analogues that inhibit coronavirus replication,’ presented at Nidovirus in June 2017, Kansas, USA, and at ECV in October 2016, Hamburg, Germany.
Awards
- Travel award in 2024 from Postdoctoral Fellows Association.
- Travel award in 2022 from the Canadian Society for Virology.
- Travel grant for 31st International Society for Antiviral Research (ISAR) conference in 2018.
- Poster prize for undergraduate students for the work entitled “The novel nucleoside analogue LJ-4269 inhibits coronavirus replication” at 31st International Society for Antiviral Research (ISAR) conference in 2018.