Dr. Villegas has a background in genetics, stem cells and cancer biology. He obtained his PhD in biological sciences from the University of La Plata (Argentina). Afterwards, he trained in embryonic stem cells and developmental biology at the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine (University of Edinburgh, UK), and in cancer research at the Institute for Neuroscience (CSIC-University Miguel Hernandez, Spain). Dr. Villegas has broad expertise modeling human tumorigenic processes in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to study druggable conserved oncogenic targets. His work bridges basic and translational science, combining cancer genetic analysis with in vivo high-throughput drug discovery strategies aimed at finding novel pharmacological anticancer cocktails for personalized therapy.