By Sara Thompson
Image Dr. Susana Lopez Charreton. Image credit is Susana Lopez's daughter, obtained from Wikimedia Commons
Special to the Enterprise
Susana López Charretón was born June 1957 in Mexico City. As a child she would perform simple experiments at home or observe the natural world around her. Her parents encouraged and supported her curiosity and desire to be a scientist. She enrolled at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where she received all of her degrees, completing her PhD in 1986 with her focus in biomedical research.
During her university time, López Charretón was introduced to rotaviruses by her tutor, Romilio Espejo. Her fascination with rotaviruses continued to grow with her education and she became increasingly interested in virology, the study of biological viruses. After a two-year research sabbatical, López Charretón , together with her spouse Carlos Arias Ortiz, started a research group to study rotaviruses at the Institute of Biotechnology at the UNAM.
Rotaviruses were first described in the early 1970s and would cause the death of hundreds of thousands of children worldwide under the age of five annually. López Charretón ’s research group discovered how these viruses attack the human body. They are passed through the skin or mouth; however, the virus does not attack these cells, but instead infects the cell in the small intestine. Knowing how the virus attacks the body, they were able to develop vaccines for the virus, greatly reducing the deaths from rotaviruses since its introduction. Since then, López Charretón and her team are strong advocates for vaccines and works with groups to deliver them to places with little to no access to routine medical assistance.
She has written more than 130 papers for international journals and given over 200 presentations. She has also been a recipient of several awards including the Gabino Barreda Medal from the UNAM, Funsalud Biennial Award in Gastrointestinal Disease, Carlos J. Finlay Prize for Microbiology, the LÓréal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science, and more. Her expertise and dedication to her field allowed her group to be one of the leading groups in researching and sequencing the coronavirus strains at the earliest parts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her team, and other similar ones around the world, laid the building blocks to finding the COVID vaccines. With research done by virologists like Susana López Charretón , more medical advancements are made each year to combat these viruses that continue to claim so many lives each year.
Explorit's coming events:
• Explorit is open Fridays from 1-4pm and Saturday and Sundays from 10am-2pm. The current exhibit is “Blast Off! A Journey Through Our Solar System”. Admission is $5 per person, free for Explorit Members and those aged 2 and under.
• Now is a great time to donate and help Explorit continue to educate and inspire the scientists of tomorrow: https://www.explorit.org/donate
• An Explorit Membership grants the recipient free visits to Explorit’s regular public hours, discounts on events, summer camps and workshops, and gives you ASTC benefits to visit other museums throughout the world. To purchase or for more information visit https://www.explorit.org/membership or call Explorit at 530-756-0191.
• Celebrate your birthday at Explorit! Offered Saturdays and Sundays between 2-4pm, this two hour program includes themed group activities and crafts, a decorated party room, and exclusive access to Explorit’s Exploration Gallery. Themes include Amazing Animals and Dynamic Dinosaurs. Call 530-756-0191 to reserve. More information found at https://www.explorit.org/birthday-parties.
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