Jesus Castaño earned his BSc at the National University of Colombia, where he also obtained his Master’s degree in Biochemistry. Jesus was awarded a Fulbright scholarship for doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota, where he graduated in 2021. Jesus has worked in several research institutions in Colombia such as the National University of Colombia, the Colombian Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics of Extreme Environments (GeBix), and the Marine and Coastal Research Institute (INVEMAR), where he conducted several research studies, published different papers, and gave a number of presentations focused on the study of fungal biology and its applications. During his Ph.D., Jesus widened the current knowledge about brown-rot degrading fungi and identified several proteins tolerant of radical oxidative species (ROS), which presumably play a key role in the genetic adaptation that enabled brown-rot decay. Jesus joined the Zhang Lab in August 2021 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. His research aims to study the biodegradability of pressure-sensitive adhesives.