MMI Research Professor Radamés J.B. Cordero Named Gilbert Otto Endowed Professor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Radamés J.B. Cordero, PhD, MS, a research professor in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, has been named the Gilbert Otto Endowed Professor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. The professorship will help to retain and support Cordero's research in the groundbreaking field of astromycology, the study of fungi in space.

Cordero investigates how fungi regulate temperature and endure extreme conditions, bridging mycology and space biology with applications in biotechnology and space exploration.

The Gilbert Otto Endowed Professorship in Innovation and Entrepreneurship is a joint effort of the Maryland Department of Commerce and Johns Hopkins University to endow $2.5 million to fund a new research professorship. The endowment was made through the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative Fund, a state program created to spur basic and applied research in scientific and technical fields at colleges and universities. Johns Hopkins raised a total of $1.25 million in private funding for the position, and Maryland Commerce approved a matching grant of $1.25 million to support the endowment.

Cordero’s research investigates the role of fungi and fungal model systems in transforming space biotechnologies, understanding ecosystem resilience, and combating public health risks while contributing to the entrepreneurial ecosystem and positively impacting economic development in Maryland. Fungi could prove both beneficial and harmful in space, with potential applications that include fighting infectious disease, sustainable food production, and efficient energy production. Fungi have already shown their ability to colonize a spacecraft, threatening vital equipment as well as the health of astronauts.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Cordero earned a PhD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he studied fungal polysaccharides and their role in host-pathogen interactions. He continued this research by conducting postdoctoral studies at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. At the Bloomberg School, he continued his postdoctoral research and uncovered a role for fungal pigments in thermoregulation.

Cordero has published over 60 research articles. His most recent work, Radiation protection and structural stability of fungal melanin polylactic acid biocomposites in low earth orbit, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences earlier this year. In addition to his published research, Cordero is an inventor and has three approved patents.