SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Seton Hall University and the Universidad de los Andes, aka Uniandes, in Colombia have formed a partnership designed to facilitate collaboration between the two institutions as part of their membership in the International Federation of Catholic Universities.
The formal partnership is anticipated to lead to innovations in research and educational practice, such as scientific discovery and application. It will also allow for student and professor exchanges and present opportunities for grant funding from international agencies.
“I am delighted to learn about this great collaboration and look forward to an opportunity to advance our institutions’ connections on research, teaching and other exchanges,” said Katia Passerini, SHU provost and executive vice president. “We can use a lot of creativity and innovation to build bridges between our universities.”
Founded in 1948, Uniandes is a private university located in the heart of Bogotá. It offers 16 doctoral programs and 63 master’s programs, as well as 39 undergraduate programs. Uniandes’ campus is home to art galleries, abundant classroom and auditorium space, and 163 laboratories for teaching and research. It was through laboratory research between faculty members from the Uniandes and SHU that the seeds of this partnership were first planted.
“The collaborative efforts will start with an already established joint research program on peptide discovery for industrial and biomedical applications between professors Gregory Wiedman of Seton Hall and Juan Cruz of Uniandes,” said Silvia Restrepo, vice president for research and creation at Uniandes. “They have been collaborating for the past two years and are planning to start a graduate student exchange program in the coming months.”
According to Cruz, the basis of the study is the “search for new peptide sequences with applications as biosurfactants, antimicrobials and cell-penetrating agents.” Currently, he and associate professor Luis H. Reyes of Uniandes are developing a new library of peptides.
Through the partnership, the Uniandes researchers “are planning to synthesize the most promising candidates in Greg Wiedman’s lab at Seton Hall and conduct the preliminary biophysical characterization,” Cruz said. “This will involve several graduate students from Uniandes and Seton Hall who will be able to receive training in advanced characterization tools, including fluorescence-based assays, secondary structural characterization and antimicrobial testing.”
“The 3B Lab (Biochemistry, Biophysics, Biomaterials) at Seton Hall University recognizes the importance of collaborative efforts in science to improve the world,” Wiedman said. “We are extremely excited for this agreement, which will provide the opportunity for our students at Seton Hall to work together with students from Uniandes. We know that this will strongly improve our work together on peptides for antimicrobial applications and for bioremediation, both of which are issues with international significance.”
“Sharing resources to learn together and solve real-world problems is at the heart of Seton Hall’s internationalization initiatives,” said Ines Murzaku, SHU’s director of Catholic Studies. “Through working in the fruitful international partnerships Seton Hall is developing, I can see our university’s true faithfulness to the guiding principles laid out in our new strategic plan. This partnership will certainly facilitate Seton Hall serving and being enriched by our global community.”
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