Dr. Becerra is a Senior Scientist with tenure, and head of the Section of Protein Structure and Function, Laboratory of Retinal Cell and Molecular Biology, National Eye Institute, NIH, USA. Dr. Becerra obtained a Doctorate degree from the University of Navarra, Spain (Major in Biochemistry), and received post-doctoral training in biochemistry of DNA polymerases at the National Cancer Institute and in molecular virology of AAV at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, USA.

Dr. Becerra’s expertise is in biochemistry, molecular biology, structure-function relationships of proteins, and retinal research. During the last 30 years, her lab has been studying retinoprotective factors, and she is a pioneer in pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) research worldwide. PEDF is a multifunctional SERPIN protein that acts in neuronal differentiation and survival, and prevents angiogenesis, inflammation, tumor growth and metastasis. Among major accomplishments: identification of the first eukaryotic non-AUG initiation codon for translation, and structure-function relationships and mechanism of action of PEDF. Her work has been reported in more than 100 peer- reviewed articles, reviews, and book chapters. She serves as an editorial board member and reviewer of several journals in biochemistry, molecular biology, and ophthalmology.