Gutierrez, Karina

Karina Gutierrez obtained her B.Sc. in Biology (2011) and M.Sc. in Animal Science (2013) in Brazil. While in Brazil, she also obtained a Teaching Degree for Professional Education (2014). She completed her Ph.D. in Animal Science at McGill University in 2019, followed by her postdoctoral training in Animal Science (2023). She joined the Department of Animal Science at McGill University as an Assistant Professor (Research) in February 2023. In this position, she will be working closely with other Professors at the Department of Animal Science and the Department of Neurology and Neuroscience at McGill University. Her research focuses on gene editing for the study of gene function during embryo development as well as the creation of biomedical animal models. She has experience working with mouse models and large animals such as pigs, cows, and non-human primates. Her research interests are: 1) to improve genome editing efficiency in embryos via the CRISPR/Cas system in association with DNA repair mechanism; 2) to understand the role of specific genes during early embryo development; and 3) to create gene-edited embryos and live animals to understand the pathophysiology of diseases.