Padrón-Regalado, Eriko

Eriko Padron-Regalado, EXATEC, is Director of the FEMSA Biotechnology Center and a researcher and lecturer with over 10 years of international experience in biotechnology, vaccinology, epidemiology, and public health. He earned his PhD at the University of Oxford, where he worked under the supervision of scientists who developed the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, contributing to the early stages of the vaccine technology that was later deployed worldwide during the pandemic. He was the first Mexican successfully admitted to the Clinical Medicine doctoral program at the University of Oxford, reflecting a distinguished academic trajectory within a highly competitive global environment. He obtained his Master s degree from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, after being selected through a highly competitive global process. During this period, he led infectious disease surveillance research for the Hajj pilgrimage, the largest annual mass gathering in the world, which brings together approximately 2.5 million people from more than 180 countries, contributing to high-impact studies in global health. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at the HQ of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States, as a globally selected Research Fellow, participating in strategic projects on epidemiological surveillance, with direct impact on decision-making in public health of this country. During his experience in the pharmaceutical industry, he contributed to scientific and regulatory processes that enabled the approval and release of more than 20 million diagnostic products and vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthening access to medical technologies in public health emergency settings. He is the author and co-author of multiple peer-reviewed scientific publications in international journals, including Vaccine, Scientific Reports, eLife, CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases, and MDPI Vaccines. Some of his publications have been consulted more than 50,000 times worldwide, and his research on vaccination policy has been referenced in technical documents and decision-making processes at the highest levels of government in Mexico. He has teaching experience in public and private higher education institutions in Mexico, including Universidad La Salle and the Universidad Politécnica del Valle de Toluca, where he has taught courses related to biotechnology project management, biochemistry, industrial engineering, and molecular biology. Padron-Regalado maintains a strong focus on human capital development, the generation and application of knowledge with social impact, and strategic collaboration between academia, industry, and the public sector.