James Villanueva, PhD

Dr. Villanueva joined RUSM in August of 2024. He is currently an Associate Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Medical Foundations. He has taught biochemistry for a long time in the Caribbean. He obtained his Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of the Philippines. Dr. Villanueva has completed post-doctoral research at the Institute for Protein Research in Osaka University, Japan where he studied the misfolding of beta-2-microglobulin implicated in dialysis-related amyloidosis and at the Department of Biological Sciences in Notre Dame University in Indiana where he did nuclear magnetic resonance studies on the folding of a repressor protein in bacteriophage lambda. His research interests include protein misfolding, protein spectroscopy, development of immunoliposomes and biodesulfurization. He is currently doing studies on computer-based molecular calculations between natural bioactive ligands and clinically important proteins.