Luz Irina A. Calderón Villalobos

Luz Irina A. Calderón Villalobos has an extensive and diverse work experience. Starting in 1997, they worked as a Research Fellow at CIDEIM until February 1999. Following that, they pursued a Research Internship at Boehringer Ingelheim from 2000 to 2001. Luz Irina A. then joined Indiana University Bloomington as a Postdoctoral Research Associate from February 2006 to August 2008. Afterward, Luz worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of California at San Diego from September 2008 to December 2010.

In 2011, they became the Head of Research Group Signal Integration at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, where they worked until the present, with no specified end date. Additionally, starting in March 2020, Luz holds the role of Head of Research Group Genome Editing at KWS Gateway Research Center (USA).

Luz also took on various managerial roles at KWS Group. From April 2021 to August 2022, they served as the KWS Gateway Research Center Manager (USA), and starting from September 2022 until August 2023, they worked as the Co Managing Director Gateway Research Center at KWS Group.

Luz Irina A. Calderón Villalobos holds a PhD in Developmental Genetics from the University of Tübingen, earned between 2001 and 2006. Luz Irina A. also obtained a degree in Microbiology, specializing in Biological Sciences, from the Universidad de Los Andes, completed from 1992 to 1997. Their latest educational endeavor was an Executive MBA focused on Food & Agriculture at TIAS School for Business and Society, which they pursued from 2023 to 2025. Additionally, Luz obtained a certification titled "10 Mistakes Leaders Should Avoid" from LinkedIn in 2022.