{"id":173075,"date":"2026-04-15T10:03:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?p=173075"},"modified":"2026-04-16T23:57:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T05:57:58","slug":"maria-luisa-del-prado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/industrial-transformation\/maria-luisa-del-prado\/","title":{"rendered":"Facing Major Health Threats from the Tiniest\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With a big smile and wrapped up in a white lab coat, Mar\u00eda Luisa del Prado welcomes us into her workspace \u2014Lab 207\u2014 on the second floor of the Health Sciences Technology Park at Tecnologico de Monterrey\u2019s Mexico City campus<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s 10 a.m., and warm light pours in through the large windows, lighting up a space filled with test tubes, flasks, pipettes, and a huge whiteboard. Here, she and her INBioTech team are working to figure out solutions to major health challenges from the smallest scale\u2014things so tiny they\u2019re invisible even under an optical microscope, like atoms and nanoparticles.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Materials Science, and her work focuses on developing polymers with clinical applications: tackling antimicrobial resistance and helping chronic wounds heal. She ended up in this line of research \u2014she admits as the interview kicks off\u2014 because it was the closest thing to what she originally wanted to study: cosmetology.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her career has earned her awards such as the 2025 Bionano Innovation Award in Science and Technology and the 2025 CANIFARMA Award, both granted by Mexico\u2019s National Chamber of the Pharmaceutical Industry.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among many other achievements, Mar\u00eda Luisa del Prado stands out as the only Mexican woman on the scientific editorial team for Elsevier\u2019s Next journals, iIn addition to being included in the Stanford\u2013Elsevier ranking, which lists the top 2% of the most highly cited scientists worldwide.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThree years ago, I arrived at Tec and we set up the laboratory with that idea in mind: combining nanotechnology and materials science.\u201d (Photos: Rodrigo Oropeza \/ TecScience)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why did you want to study cosmetology?<\/em><\/strong>
I wanted to learn how to come up with things like creams or shampoos, but from a scientific angle, actually testing whether you can reduce wrinkles or make hair shinier. In chemical engineering, there wasn\u2019t really anything about cosmetics until I took a biomaterials class and then I realized, \u201cThis is totally my thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During my master\u2019s, my advisor worked with collagen, a structural protein that acts like glue between tissues. Then, during my PhD, I started to focus on burn treatments and tissue regeneration, especially skin. Before I knew it, I was fully pulled into the clinical world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how did you end up doing what you do now in your lab?<\/em><\/strong>
During my postdoc, I really got into nanotechnology. It was a pretty winding road, but also incredibly rewarding. I started linking what we knew about wound healing with nanotech to develop hydrogels and patches. It was a beautiful project, and it also brought us a lot of recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years ago, I joined Tec, and we set up the lab around that idea: bringing together nanotechnology and materials science to develop more effective tools that help people heal better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Del Prado also participates in Tec\u2019s SOI-STEM program, an initiative aimed at empowering women in higher education to pursue STEM fields. (Photos: Courtesy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of your research lines has to do with essential oils\u2026<\/em><\/strong>
There\u2019s something we all kind of get instinctively: certain natural molecules actually work. Why do you drink chamomile tea when your stomach hurts? Because it\u2019s anti-inflammatory. Why put almond oil on your skin? Because it moisturizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started working with oregano oil and saw its potential. So we took it a step further by using nanoparticles to enhance its properties<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of applications do essential oils have?<\/em><\/strong>
Their bioactive compounds help on several fronts. For one, they support wound healing because they\u2019re anti-inflammatory\u2014chronic wounds often have uncontrolled inflammation and high oxidative stress, so these compounds act as antioxidants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, wounds that don\u2019t heal tend to get infected\u2014and many of those infections are now antibiotic-resistant. What\u2019s interesting is that these molecules also have antimicrobial properties, so we\u2019re trying to tackle both issues at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A more romantic way to look at this research is going back to the roots of ancestral medicine, but through the lens of materials science, using oils like curcumin, which I absolutely love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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