Dr Omar Mendoza Porras

Dr Omar Mendoza-Porras is a Research Scientist at CSIRO Agriculture and Food located at the Queensland Bioscience Precinct in Brisbane, Australia. Dr Mendoza-Porras is using mass spectrometry and proteomics to identify and quantify target molecules for the purpose of:

1. Improving human health
2. Creating safe products from sustainable sources for human or animal consumption
3. Enhancing industrial processes and securing IP.

To achieve these outcomes, Dr Mendoza-Porras is using mass metabolomics and proteomics to:

• Identify and quantify regulatory molecules involved in the reproduction, growth and welfare of aquaculture species

• Identification of proteins that will assist further research in seafood allergenicity

• Establish workflows to separate and identify bioactive molecules of interest for therapeutic applications

Through his published research, Dr Mendoza-Porras has helped define mechanisms related to spawning in temperate abalone (Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology: Genomics and Proteomics, Aquaculture Research) and has demonstrated resourcefulness by using public genomic resources and bioinformatics tools to identify proteins involved in abalone reproduction (Journal of Proteomics). Within his collaborative network, Dr Mendoza-Porras has helped to identify and quantify gluten in specific foods (Food Chemistry, Peptide Science), identifying molecules involved in draught-stressed soybean seedlings (Crop and Pasture) aa well as increasing knowledge in invasive snail species affecting agriculture crops (Journal of Proteome Research).

Prior to joining CSIRO, Dr Mendoza-Porras also worked as a Mass Spectrometry Facility Coordinator in CICESE (Mexico, 2016) and as a Mass Spectrometry Assistant at the University of Queensland (Australia, 2015). In these roles Dr Mendoza-Porras was involved in a variety of projects ranging from identification of venom toxins in conus snails to screening of specific drugs that helped to further strengthen and broaden his skills in mass spectrometry and proteomics making them applicable to a wide range of research fields.

Dr Mendoza-Porras has a multidisciplinary skills set stemming from diverse academic endeavours as a Chemical and Physical Oceanographer (BSc, University of Colima, Mexico, 2002) and as a Marine Biotechnologist (MSc, CICESE, Mexico, 2008) and Proteomics, Mass spectrometry and Aquaculture (PhD, Flinders University, Australia, 2014).