Speakers

Prominent Colombians Abroad

Josefina Echavarría Álvarez, PhD

Josefina Echavarría Alvarez is professor of the practice in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. She is director of the Peace Accords Matrix, a research initiative of the Keough School’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.Echavarría Alvarez also is a faculty fellow of the Keough School’s Pulte Institute for Global Development. 

As the director of the Peace Accords Matrix, Echavarría Alvarez leads the Barometer Initiative in Colombia, which carries out official monitoring of implementation of the 2016 Final Agreement between the government and the former FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army). She also directs the Legacy Project for “Preserving and Engaging the Digital Archive of the Colombian Truth Commission,” which guarantees continued access to more than 200,000 files including audiovisual, non-textual knowledge and digitized documents compiled by the Colombian Truth Commission about the country’s fifty-two-year armed conflict to advance transitional justice, human rights, and the centrality of victims. Echavarría Alvarez was previously co-director of the Research Center for Peace and Conflict at the University of Innsbruck and a Fellow at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) and Trinity College (Ireland). She has been a guest lecturer at numerous universities around the world on peacebuilding, peace education, gender, conflict analysis, and research methods. She has also managed diverse international cooperation projects in the fields of gender, citizenship, and curricular development for peace and conflict studiess. She holds a PhD in peace, conflict, and democracy from the Jaume I University (Spain), an MA in peace, development, security and international conflict transformation from the University of Innsbruck (Austria), and a BA in government and international Relations from the University Externado (Colombia).

Carlos Castro, MFA

Carlos Castro Arias, is Colombian artist, professor and musician. His practice departs from the appropriation of historical images and the formal and symbolic re-contextualization of found objects. Castro’s work explores elements of the individual and collective identity and aims to bring to light muted histories and ignored points of view. He received a BA from the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Bogota, in 2002; in 2008 he attained a Fulbright Scholarship to go to the San Francisco Art Institute, where he got an MFA in Painting in 2010. Castro currently works as an associate professor at San Diego State University.

Castro’s artwork has been featured in museums and galleries in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, France, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Spain, Sweden, the United States, and Venezuela. Some shows include: Remorses and Other Maladies at Bread and Salt San Diego (2021); I Came to Set the World on Fire at Artpace, San Antonio (2020); Ires y Venires at Casa Republicana, Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango, Bogotá, Colombia (2020); Under Construction, Latin American Narratives (2019) at Casa Fugáz in Lima, Peru; Gótico Tropical (2017) at Passerelle Centre d’art contemporain in Brest, France; OpenARTBiennale in Örebro, Sweden (2017). Space To Dream Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand (2016); X Mercosur Biennale. Porto Alegre Brazil (2015); O que seria do mundo sem as coisas que não existem? Frestas Trienal. Sorocaba Brazil (2014).

Castro has participated in Art residencies like Artpace, San Antonio (2020), Art Omi, Maine (2012) and Skowhegan NY (2010), among others. Some distinctions include:  University Grant Program San Diego State University (2018, 2017 and 2015); Cisneros Foundation Grants and Commissions (2016); Artist nominated to the Luis Caballero Prize (2013). Colombia Fulbright Scholarship (2008)

His musical projects include: POPO (2000), Los Claudios de Colombia (2005-2010) and Amor Negro (2020).

Carlos Castro lives and works between San Diego, Tijuana, and Bogota.

Mauricio Diazgranados, PhD

I lead strategic positioning and planning for Science at NYBG. I direct and oversee the activities of the various components of NYBG Science, including: the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium; the LuEsther T. Mertz Library; the Laboratory for Integrative Biodiversity Research; the Center for Biodiversity & Evolution; the Center for Plants, People and Culture; the Center for Conservation and Restoration Ecology; and the Commodore Matthew Perry Graduate Studies Program. Rooted in the Garden’s state-of-the-art resources and robust collections, I am also helping to build cross-institutional, global collaborations to help address the dual climate and biodiversity crises.

I graduated in Biology from the Universidad Javeriana, Colombia (1999), have a postgraduate degree in Bioethics from the same institution (2005), and a PhD in Biology, with a concentration in Ecology, Evolution and Systematics from Saint Louis University and the Missouri Botanical Garden (2012). After three years of postdoctoral research at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (2012–2014), I served as Director of Science at the Bogotá Botanical Garden (2014–2016) and as a Research Leader at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2016–2023).

My research develops plant & fungal diversity approaches to support communities in locations and economies where nutritional, income and biodiversity issues are of paramount importance. My projects focus on studying utilized, neglected and under-utilized plants, their main threats and conservation status, and their sustainable use, primarily in the Tropics. I am also interested in how climate change is affecting these plants and the related ecosystem services. I use an interdisciplinary approach, integrating biodiversity, economic botany, ethnobotany, systematics, macroevolution, biogeography, restoration, and conservation biology. Also, I have a strong track record in working on the flora of the Páramos and Andean ecosystems of South America, in aspects including taxonomy, molecular systematics, biogeography, climate change impact and plant uses. I specialize in the Asteraceae family, and in particular on theEspeletia group (a.k.a. frailejones).

I have published 97 papers and books (62 peer-reviewed journal publications, 18 book chapters, 8 authored books, 2 edited books, 7 published scientific reports) and 88 extinction risk assessments for plants. I have 215 conference presentations and have delivered 60 invited talks in university seminars and special events. During my career, I have received 11 honours and awards, including a summa cum laude BS thesis, the best BS student, the best PhD student, the best paper at the VI Colombian Botany Meetings (2011), and the best doctoral paper on systematics (George R. Cooley Award) at the 2012 Botanical Society of America (BSA) Meetings. My research projects have been funded by well-known organizations, including Newton Fund, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), National Geographic Society, National Science Foundation (USA) and the Smithsonian Institution (USA).

Ana María Montoya, PhD 

Ana María Montoya is the Director of Data Analytics at the World Justice Project (WJP), where she leads the integration of cutting-edge methodologies—such as large language models (LLMs) and artificial intelligence (AI)—into data collection and analysis processes. At WJP, she has led the adoption of web scraping, big data approaches, and AI to harness textual data, including news articles and judicial decisions, to validate and enrich perception-based justice indicators.

She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Duke University and a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from Universidad de los Andes (Colombia). Her research focuses on judicial enforcement of land restitution orders and public authority compliance with decisions protecting property rights in Colombia. During her doctoral work, she built a dataset of over 6,000 judicial decisions, linked them with compliance data, and advised Colombia’s General Inspector Office on a platform to monitor enforcement outcomes.

Ana María has extensive experience researching the rule of law in conflict and post-conflict settings. She has collaborated with academic, governmental, and international organizations including LAPOP, the United States Institute of Peace, and the Women’s Rights After War Project at LSE’s Gender, Justice and Security Hub.

Juan Pablo Hernández-Ortiz, PhD

Dr. Juan Pablo Hernández-Ortiz is a Colombian scientist, professor, and biotechnology executive with over two decades of experience at the intersection of engineering, biophysics, and global health. He is the Chief Operating and Scientific Officer (COO/CSO) and Co-founder of VaxThera S.A.S., a biotechnology company leading the development of over 15 vaccine candidates and mRNA/CAR-X therapies for cancer.  Dr. Hernández-Ortiz is also a Professor at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, and the Director of the GHI One-Health Colombia Institute, part of a global collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on molecular engineering, pathogen discovery, immunobiology, and cancer genomics, with active programs across five regions of Colombia through fever clinics and genomic laboratories.

He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (minor in Chemical Engineering) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Chemical and Biological Engineering. His early work centered on mathematical modeling of complex biological systems, before transitioning over the past decade into molecular platforms for personalized medicine and One Health strategies.  His scientific productivity includes over 110 peer-reviewed publications, more than 3,900 citations, an h-index of 30, and the mentorship of 23 graduate alumni, supported by a team of 25 graduate students and 25 scientific staff. He has led major public health initiatives, including membership in the Global Virus Network, the Abbott Pandemic Awareness Coalition, and the Colombian National Genomic Surveillance Network.

In parallel with his academic career, Dr. Hernández-Ortiz co-founded VaxThera in 2020, alongside Professor Jorge Osorio from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As Chief Operating and Scientific Officer, he leads a biotechnology enterprise committed to vaccine development, pandemic preparedness, and biological security. VaxThera currently develops more than 15 vaccine candidates targeting infectious diseases, as well as cutting-edge mRNA and CAR-X therapies for cancer treatment. Rooted in the principles of health security, biological accessibility, and scientific innovation, VaxThera partners closely with Grupo SURA to build a future of health equity for Colombia and Latin America.

By combining an active academic and scientific career as a professor with his executive role at VaxThera, Dr. Hernández-Ortiz fosters a professional ecosystem where patients, territorial and family health, and -most importantly- health equity are at the center of all his endeavors.

Connections Panel Colombia – U.S.

Pablo Navas, MBA

Executive Director – The Aspen Institute Colombia

Born in Bogotá, Pablo Navas is an Industrial Engineer from Cornell University and has a MBA from the Universidad de los Andes. In his professional career he has served as Vice Chancellor of Colegio San Carlos, Founding Member of Colegio Los Nogales and of the Alianza Educativa Association. Additionally, he has been president of Global Education Group Colombia, Director of the Commercial Office of Proexport in New York and Member of the Superior Council of the Universidad de los Andes from 1983 to 2011, the year in which he assumed the rectory of the institution until 2019.Presently he is member of various boards of directors, including Universidad de los Andes, Fundación Mario Santodomingo, Corporación Financiera Colombiana, Innova Schools and Visum Capital. He is the author of the books: “The Journey of Frederic Edwin Church through Colombia y Ecuador”, “Colombia en Le Tour du Monde”, and “Alberto Magno en los Andes”.

Diego Fernando Hernández Losada, PhD

Chancellor of the Universidad Autonoma de Occidente since March 4, 2024.

He is a doctoral student in Education (EdD) in the Educational Policy, Organization, and Leadership Department EPOL, specializing in Learning Design and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US. He is writing his thesis under the supervision of Dr. Liam Magee. He holds a Doctorate in Economic Sciences [2006] from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia; a Master of Science in Finance [2000] from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US; a Master in Economics from the Universidad Javeriana [1998]; a Master in Business Administration [1992] from the Universidad del Valle and is a bachelor in Industrial Engineer [1986] from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Until February 4, 2024, he was a full professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, where he initially joined as an associate professor on February 2, 2004, and was promoted to full professor in July 2021. On December 18, 2019, he assumed the position of Deputy Minister of Knowledge, Innovation, and Productivity, a position he held until January 31, 2021. He also held the position of Minister in Charge (between December 18, 2019, and January 10, 2020) of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. He was general director of the Administrative Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation -COLCIENCIAS between August 13, 2018, and December 17, 2019, when Colciencias was transformed into the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation. He was also a member of the Superior Council of the Universidad del Valle, representing the President of Colombia. For three (3) years, from April 2013 to June 2016, he acted as Vice-Chancellor’s Office of the Bogotá branch of the National University of Colombia. Between June 2006 and June 2012, he served as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá branch. He assumed the Presidency of the Colombian Association of Engineering Faculties ACOFI between April 2011 and April 2012. He has been awarded by the national government on two occasions with the Julio Garavito medal of merit in the degree of “Grand Officer” and in the degree of “Grand Cross” during the ceremonies of the 123rd and 137th anniversary of the Colombian Society of Engineers on May 28, 2010, and May 29, 2024, respectively.

Daniel Castro-Lacouture, Ph.D., P.E.

He is Professor and Dean of the Purdue Polytechnic Institute at Purdue University, where he joined in June 2022 after 16 years in the faculty at Georgia Institute of Technology. His research has centered on the feasibility of multiscale applications of digital technologies for preconstruction and construction processes.Dr. Castro-Lacouture received a BSc in Civil Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia, an MSc in ConstructionManagement from The University of Reading, UK, and a PhD from the School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. He is a Registered Professional Engineer and worked in project engineering and management in the public and private sectors including two multinational firms. Dr. Castro-Lacouture is the Editor-in-Chief of Automation in Construction, serves in the Board of Directors of the International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction, and was Co-Chair of the 2022 International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC), and Chair of the 2014 ASCE Construction Research Congress. He is the co-author of Sustainability in Engineering Design and Construction (2016, CRC Press).

Liliana del Pilar Castro Molano, PhD

She is a Chemical Engineer with a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. She is a Full Professor at the School of Chemical Engineering at Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS), Colombia, and currently serves as Director of External Affairs and International Relations Office at UIS

For over 15 years, Professor Castro has led research on renewable energy implementation in rural communities, with results disseminated globally through scientific publications and conference presentations. She has supervised more than 60 theses and received national recognition, including the Otto de Greiff Award (2012), the National Chemical Engineering Award (2022) for best doctoral thesis supervision, and the 2024 edition of the same award for the best undergraduate project led by women.

Her research focuses on “transforming waste into energy and nutrients for sustainable futures.” She is an active member of RedBioLAC (Red de biodigestores anaerobios para America Latina y el Caribe), a scientific evaluator, and an editorial contributor to technical journals. In addition, she promotes science communication through serious games and theatrical productions on bioprocesses. 

As Director of External Affairs and International Relations, she works to expand international agreements, foster academic mobility, promote intercultural engagement, and strengthen ties with UIS alumni.

Opportunities Panel

David E. Bernal Neira, PhD

He is an Assistant Professor in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University. His research focuses on the use of mathematical and computational methods to address scientific and engineering problems, particularly in process systems, energy, and chemical engineering. His core expertise lies in nonlinear discrete optimization, where he develops theory, algorithms, and software. He also conducts research in quantum computing and its intersection with optimization. He has co-authored several peer-reviewed publications, developed software tools, and delivered talks and seminars across academia, government, and industry. He has taught multiple courses, including one at the intersection of optimization, quantum computing, and machine learning, which he co-designed. He actively collaborates with researchers across academic institutions, national labs, government agencies, and industry.

Alejandra Agredo, PhD

Originally from Cali, Colombia; Alejandra attended Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota and obtained her B.S. in Biology. She then moved to Indiana to pursue her PhD in Biological Sciences at Purdue University where she studied miRNAs and epigenetic regulation in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) under the mentorship of Dr. Andrea Kasinski. For her thesis work she uncovered an epigenetic mechanism of resistance to EGFR inhibition in NSCLC. Alejandra then moved to industry where she is pursuing a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Oncology department of Amgen Inc in Thousand Oaks, California.

Lilibeth Ortega Pineda, PhD

Lilibeth is an Associate Director of Immunology External Innovation at Eli Lilly and Company. She joined the company through the TDA Rotational Program in 2023, where she completed rotations in Discovery Neurodegeneration, focusing on developing a BBB targeted delivery technology, and Portfolio Project Management, supporting asset strategy for cardiometabolic indications.

Lilibeth holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from EIA-CES University in Medellin, Colombia. Following her undergraduate studies, she worked at EIA University developing biomaterials for drug delivery applications. She then pursued a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Ohio State University, where her research focused on the development of non-viral gene delivery technologies for translational applications in cell and tissue reprogramming. Her work has been recognized through numerous peer-reviewed publications. Lilibeth is passionate about advancing biomedical research for the development of medicines and the growth of new life science ecosystems.

Esteban Garcia Bravo, MFA, PhD 

Esteban Garcia Bravo, MFA, PhD, is a Colombian-American artist and scholar specializing in computational art, digital media, and public art technology. He is an Assistant Professor of Digital Media Art & Spatial Art at the CADRE Laboratory for New Media at San José State University. Garcia Bravo’s research explores the “lost histories” of early computer art, critically examining aesthetics within media-cultural contexts. His book Cybernethisms (Purdue Press, 2015) investigates the work of computer art pioneer Aldo Giorgini, while his studies on José María Yturralde document Spain’s first computational designs from 1968. His writings appear in leading journals, including Leonardo, The Design Journal, Artnodes, Acoustic Space, and CITAR Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts.

His work has been presented at major international conferences such as SIGGRAPH (2011, 2015, 2017, 2022, 2023), ISEA (2012, 2013, 2015, 2017), Media Art Histories (2013), Expressive (2016), and EVA London (2015). In 2022, his research on the preservation of traditional African dances using deep learning techniques won the Best Art Paper Award at SIGGRAPH.
Beyond research, Garcia Bravo is actively engaged in the computational art community, serving as a reviewer for ACM SIGGRAPH Art Papers since 2016 and as Art Exhibition Co-Chair for the IEEE Visualization Conference in 2017. He has multiple public art installations across the United States. His artwork uses computational design, light technology, and digital manufacturing for placemaking through an interactive and community-oriented approach.

*Purdue-specific fun facts: Attended Purdue from 2005-2013 and worked as Associate professor 2013-2022. One of the founding student members of CSAP 🙂

Daniel Casas-Orozco, PhD

Daniel Casas-Orozco holds a degree in Process Engineering from EAFIT University, with an emphasis on Chemical Process Design. He completed his doctoral studies at Universidad de Antioquia under the guidance of Professor Aída Luz Villa. During his doctoral studies, he visited Purdue University as a research intern, where he began working with Professor Gintaras Reklaitis in chemical process modeling and optimization. This visit marked the beginning of a series of collaborations with Purdue University, which ultimately allowed him to return to Purdue as a postdoctoral researcher, working under the direction of Professors Zoltan Nagy and Gintaras Reklaitis. Daniel currently works as a researcher at the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly (Indiana, United States), where he supports the development of new products and processes using mathematical modeling tools.

Daniel Mejía, PhD

Daniel Mejia is a Colombian engineer specializing in web development and atomistic simulations. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Systems and Computer Engineering from Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2002, followed by a master’s degree in engineering from the same institution in 2004. He then pursued doctoral studies, conducting research in virtual reality, human-machine interaction, and graphical programming.

In 2005, Daniel became the Information Technology Manager at Dayscript (later acquired by Hiberus Digital in Spain) in Bogotá, where he played a key role in developing the CMS Dayware and various web portals. During this time, he also served as a lecturer at Universidad de los Andes, a position he held until 2009.

In 2011, Daniel joined Professor Gerhard Klimeck’s research group at Purdue University, contributing to the NEMO5 project with a focus on visual analytics. He was also an active member of the Colombian Student Association at Purdue (CSAP), serving as a board officer from 2011 to 2013. He earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 2018.

After completing his Ph.D., Daniel joined HubZero, a digital platform for scientific collaboration and education based in San Diego, California, as a Research Software Engineer. In 2019, he transitioned to nanoHUB, where he leveraged his expertise in web development to enhance the platform, supporting researchers and educators worldwide.

In 2024, Daniel stepped into the role of Technical Director for the Network of Computational Nanotechnology, leading nanoHUB’s infrastructure and further advancing its mission in computational science and education.