Highlighting Biotechnology Advances Across Ibero-America

Published October 31, 2025 | Request Information

Perhaps because he grew up in the high elevation of Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, – at 8,660 feet above sea level – Esteban Mathieu has set personal goals as lofty as his mountainous home in the Andes.

While inspirational for him, those same mountains, however, proved problematic for his autistic younger brother, Alejandro, who eventually was diagnosed with mitochondrial dysfunction and high-altitude pulmonary edema, a life-threatening condition that causes fluid to build up in the lungs after a rapid ascent to high altitudes.

“It was challenging for my family to manage my brother’s medical situation before we fully understood what he had,” Mathieu said. “We would take medical trips to see a doctor in Miami, and he would be great. We would go back to Bogotá, and he would get sick and end up in the emergency room. It took a while for the diagnosis, but then we starting putting the puzzle pieces together, and we knew we had to move away.”

Mathieu and his family learned that coastal cities provided the best conditions for Alejandro’s health. During that period, he completed his dual undergraduate degrees in biological science and natural sciences at Florida International University and enrolled at Johns Hopkins to pursue a master’s in bioinformatics.

“My family has always valued education, so when I completed my undergraduate degree and expressed an interest in continuing my studies, they encouraged me to seek out the best of the best, which led me to Johns Hopkins,” he said.
Mathieu soon realized that he wanted his focus to be more on his first love of biology and less on computer science. His advisor encouraged him to consider the MS in Biotechnology program where he has flourished through a concentration on biotechnology enterprise.

“Biotech is a better fit for me,” said Mathieu, who will graduate in May 2026, “and I am really, really happy in this program. I enrolled in Dr. Theresa Martin’s excellent enterprise course. It was so interesting to me that I decided to make it my concentration. My adviser, Dr. Vikash Morar, has been incredible, and I learned so much about new technologies through his course, ‘Emerging Applications in Biotech.’ I am currently learning about the complicated process of creating a biotech startup from Dr. Manail Anis Ahmed. All of the JHU faculty are excellent and knowledgeable. Their courses are tailor-made, meticulously crafted, and rigorous, and provide a perfect balance between theory and application. The students themselves are from a great mix of many cultures, and studying alongside of them has really broadened my horizons. It has been such a great investment and a wonderful experience.”

Mathieu is already seeing the real-world application of his studies and, in August 2025, he launched a monthly newsletter on LinkedIn called IBT – IberBioTech – designed to highlight key biotech developments in the Ibero-America region.

“I wanted to dig deep and find companies you don’t usually see, that are doing amazing work, but don’t get enough media attention,” said Mathieu, who writes the newsletter in English to attract a wider audience. “I structured it to include a main article about something interesting that is happening in biotech in Latin-speaking countries, and in the Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal and Spain. Then I highlight a particular company, and tag them, and I summarize an interesting article that I have found and include a link so that newsletter subscribers can read the full article. It has been amazing. One of the companies has already reached out to thank me for spotlighting them. I love to read and write and do research, especially about biology, biotechnology, and biotechnology enterprise. The project has been really exciting for me because Latin America has so much beauty and biodiversity, and I wanted to draw attention to all of that through my newsletter. It is growing, and my hope is that people get to know more about this region, these companies, and the incredible work that they are doing.”

“I found Esteban’s newsletter especially interesting because many of these companies and technologies are underreported because of America-centric media,” said Morar. “I hope that, with enough momentum behind him, Esteban can grow this newsletter into something far-reaching, with greater visibility for both Latin American ventures and the training provided at Johns Hopkins.”

Now in Colombia’s coastal city of Barranquilla and with the completion of his master’s degree in sight, Mathieu hopes to find work in the field and dreams of launching a start-up of his own.

“I would love to work here and help out here and encourage people in my home country to delve into this interesting field of study,” he said. “I am more inclined to work in a product-based company and would love to one day create a therapeutic drug or biologic that could help improve patients’ lives. I don’t know where life will take me, but I am happy to soon get my feet across the finish line and find out.”