Dr. Paulina Soto is a biochemist and postdoctoral research fellow at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston), where she works in the laboratory of Dr. Rodrigo Morales. She earned her PhD in Science from Universidad Bernardo O’Higgins (Chile) and focuses her research on prion diseases, particularly Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). One of her major scientific contributions has been improving sensitive prion detection techniques, enabling the identification of prions in non-traditional biological and environmental samples. Her work highlights environmental contamination as a key driver of prion transmission beyond infected animals. She investigates non-traditional transmission pathways, identifying environmental surfaces and invertebrate species as potential vectors that contribute to prion persistence in ecosystems and may facilitate exposure to additional animal species. Her current research integrates biochemical and in vivo approaches to study prion host range and strain diversity, with the goal of understanding how emerging CWD strains adapt to new species and assessing their potential implications for animal and human health. Dr. Soto is an active member of the CWD Research Consortium.
Education
PhD, Universidad Bernardo O’Higgins (Chile) , 2025
Research
At UTHealth Houston, I study Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) prions, focusing on strain diversity, environmental persistence, and cross-species transmission. Using ultrasensitive assays (RT-QuIC/PMCA) and animal models, I evaluate how CWD strains adapt to new hosts (including pigs and other livestock) and assess potential interactions with human prion protein. My goal is to improve detection in complex samples and define factors that may influence zoonotic risk.