Oscar Medina
Medical Sciences Researcher at Hospital Infantil de México, a National Health Institute
I am the head of the Immunometabolism laboratory in the Epidemiology, Endocrinology & Nutrition research unit.
My research primarily focuses on how intestinal immune cells regulate experimental models of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Throughout my career, my research has been supported by prestigious organizations, including the National Council for Science and Technology and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.
My journey in science began at the State of Mexico Autonomous University, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in Biology. I later completed my Ph.D. in Molecular Biomedicine at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Cinvestav) under the guidance of Vianney Ortiz-Navarrete. I further specialized through postdoctoral training at Emory University within the Departments of Pediatrics and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, mentored by Tim Denning and Charles Parkos.
To date, I have served on the editorial boards of Gene Reports and Mediators of Inflammation. I am proud to be a member of several esteemed scientific communities, including The Mexican Academy of Sciences, The National Research System (SNI), The Society for Mucosal Immunology, The Mexican Society for Immunology, The American Association of Immunologists, and The American Society for Investigative Pathology.
Research Projects
Publications
Torre-Baez, R. D., Vizcarra-Soto, M., Valdez-Palomares, F., Díaz-González, D., Hernandez-Gonzalez, A., Silva- Olivares, A., Betanzos, A., Encarnación-Garcia, M., Escobar-Sánchez, M., Torres-Ramírez, N., Baay-Guzman, G., Medina-Contreras, O., Noriega, L., & Nava, P. (2026). Colitogenic environment suppresses Notch/mechanistic target of rapamycin-mediated epithelial proliferation to promote goblet cell differentiation in the colon. American Journal of Pathology, 196 (4), 900–919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2025.12.011
Castro-Manrreza, M., Romano, L. E., López-García, L., Medina-Contreras, O., & Montesinos, J. (2025). Persis- tent stimulation of human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells with TNF𝛼 and IFN𝛾 affects the release of large eExtracellular vesicles with immunoregulatory phenotype. Stem Cells and Development, 13-14(34), 291–303. https://doi.org/10.1089/scd.2025.0064
Hernández-Cuellar, E., Tsuchiya, K., Medina-Contreras, O., & Valle-Ríos, R. (2025). The role of inflammasomes in LPS and Gram-negative bacterial sepsis. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 14(19), 7102. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14197102
Jaimes-Ortega, G. A., Angeles-Floriano, T., Rivera-Torruco, G., Almanza-Pérez, J. C., Xicohtencatl- Cortes, J., Hernandez-Cuellar, E., Medina-Contreras, O., Cruz-Córdova, A., & Valle-Rios, R. (2025). Isthmin1 upregulation in the intestinal microenvironment during Salmonella typhimurium infec- tion: identification and characterization of Isthmin1-producing cells. Microorganisms, 13(6), 1280. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13061280
Negrete-Méndez, H., Valencia-Toxqui, G., Martínez-Peñafiel, E., Medina-Contreras, O., Fernández-Ramírez, F., Morales-Ríos, E., Navarro-González, L. J., Torres-Flores, J. M., & Kameyama, L. (2025). A Lambda-evo (𝜆evo) phage platform for Zika virus EDIII protein display. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 109(8), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-024-13380-3
Olivera-Castillo, L., Grant, G., Medina-Contreras, O., Cruz-López, H., Carrillo-Cocom, L., Cruz-Córdova, A., Segura-Cadiz, F., Fernández-Velasco, D. A., Rodríguez-Morales, S., Cauhich-Rodriguez, J. V., Moo-Puc, R. E., Puerto-Castillo, C., J. Moo-Pech, G. de, Uuh-Narvaez, J. J., Olvera-Novoa, M. Á., & Rodriguez-Canul, R. (2025). Sea cucumber (Isostichopus badionotus): bioactivity and wound healing capacity in vitro of small peptide isolates from digests of whole-body wall or purified collagen. Marine Drugs, 23(11), 411. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/md23110411
Prieto-Islas, M. A., Godoy-Dahbura, E., Villalpando-Sanchez, D. C., Cortés-Benavides, C., Hernández-Cuellar, E., Castro-Eguiluz, D., Álvarez-Neri, H., & Medina-Contreras, O. (2025). HPV vaccination improves immune response in children with respiratory papillomatosis. Scientific Reports, 15(Iss), 29885. https://doi.org/10.1038/ s41598-025-14787-2