# First person – Julio Fierro Morales

## TL;DR

This paper features an interview with Julio Fierro Morales, discussing his research on cell-substrate adhesions and his current work on the evolution of molecular machinery.

## Contribution

The paper highlights new insights into the evolution of cell-substrate adhesions using non-Metazoan model organisms.

## Key findings

- Julio's research focused on the dynamics of PaxillinB in Dictyostelium cell-substrate adhesions.
- He is currently studying the evolution of molecular machinery using non-Metazoan models.

## Abstract

First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Biology Open, helping researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Julio Fierro Morales is first author on ‘
Differential PaxillinB dynamics at Dictyostelium cell-substrate adhesions’, published in BiO. Julio conducted the research described in this article while a PhD student in Dr Minna Roh-Johnson's lab at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA. He is now a postdoc in the lab of Dr Florentine Rutaganira at the Beckman Center, Stanford, USA, elucidating the evolution of molecular machinery such as cell-substrate adhesions using non-Metazoan model organisms.