Walter
Sandoval

Biography

Walter Sandoval is a biologist from the National University of Asunción (UNA) in Paraguay. In 2013, Walter obtained his M.S. in Microbiology from North Carolina State University (NCSU), United States, as a Fulbright scholar. In 2016, Walter earned his PhD in Microbiology, and his thesis received the Kenneth R. Keller Award for the best doctoral dissertation of the year in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at NCSU. It focused on the physiology of bacteria used to generate advanced biofuels and capture greenhouse gases (GHG). In 2017, Walter began his postdoctoral work in Chemical Biology at Harvard University. His work focused on modulating the human gut microbiota. In addition to publishing various scientific articles, Walter holds three patents, one at NCSU and two at Harvard. In 2020, Walter returned to Paraguay and leads the Microbial Biotechnology laboratory at the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of the UNA. In the private sector, Walter is the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of MicroBios S.A. With this company, they develop microbiome-based biotechnologies that increase agricultural productivity while reducing the carbon footprint of these industries. Finally, in 2022, Walter was selected as a Global Fellow of the Eisenhower Fellowships for his work in translational research in Paraguay.