Dr. Francisco Guerra, Jr. is committed to bridging biomedical research with the practice of medicine, bringing scientific advances closer to practical medical applications that address important public health priorities. He draws on a broad and interdisciplinary background in drug discovery, bioengineering, biophysics, computational biology, physical chemistry, structural biology, spectroscopy, computational modeling, enzyme kinetics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, molecular and cellular biology, organic synthesis, global health, and the social determinants of health to develop pioneering therapeutics against emerging infectious diseases.

Dr. Guerra has collaborated with researchers using a One Health approach to detect zoonotic spillover events. His recent work has focused on developing antimalarials with novel mechanisms of action against proven essential Plasmodium spp. targets—an increasingly urgent need as artemisinin resistance spreads throughout Southeast Asia.

At the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Dr. Guerra has redirected his research to target respiratory viruses, recognizing their universal impact and the profound societal disruptions they can cause, as demonstrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. His current research focuses on two main areas: (1) developing therapeutics for Influenza and other respiratory viruses, and (2) detecting emerging respiratory virus spillover and spillback events—particularly Influenza—through a One Health approach.