PhD in Celular and Molecular Biology, Universidad de Concepción, Chile, 2014

Dr. Fernando Jose Bustos graduated as a Bioengineer from the University of Concepcion in 2009. He completed his undergraduate thesis work under the supervision of Dr. Brigitte van Zundert, studying the mechanisms by how NMDA receptors control structural plasticity in the brain. His thesis was recognized with the Best Undergraduate thesis award by the Chilean Society for Cell Biology in 2010. After completion of his undergraduate studies, he pursued his doctoral training at University of Concepcion studying the epigenetic mechanisms that control the expression of a key scaffolding protein in the central nervous system. His thesis was co-directed by Dr. Brigitte van Zundert and Dr. Martin Montecino. His thesis was recognized with the Best Doctorate thesis award by the Chilean Society for Cell Biology in 2014. After completing his Ph.D., he started his Postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2014 where he joined the laboratories of Dr. Martha Constantine-Paton and Dr. Feng Zhang. His postdoctoral training was funded by: Pew Latin American Fellowship and a Simons Center for the Social Brain Fellowship. At MIT he used CRISPR/Cas9 to study the mechanisms and brain areas involved in Autism Spectrum Disorder using animal models.