Tinoco Valencia, Antonio

Biochemistry

Short Biography

Antonio Tinoco Valencia was born in Irapuato, Guanajuato, México, and as a young child immigrated with his family to the United States, and was raised in the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles. He graduated from California State University, Los Angeles in 2015 cum laude with departmental honors in chemistry. He pursued graduate studies as a National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Rochester, receiving his PhD in 2020. His graduate work with Prof. Rudi Fasan focused on the development of asymmetric biocatalytic transformations and the engineering of hemoproteins as biocatalysts for enantioselective carbene transfer reactions. From 2020–2025, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University in the research group of Prof. Emily P. Balskus. His research in the Balskus lab focused on discovering and characterizing the bacterial enzymes for the human gut microbial conversion of cholesterol to coprostanol, and creating chemical biology tools for manipulating bacterial cholesterol metabolism in the human gut microbiome. He also received training in environmental microbiology and microbial ecology as a member of the Microbial Diversity Summer Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole during the summer of 2022, where he focused on the isolation, characterization, and laboratory evolution of marine Vibrio bacteriophages. Antonio joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2025, and is currently an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Research Interests

At UCLA, the Tinoco lab will focus on the discovery and engineering of the chemistry occurring in microbiomes. The Tinoco research group will apply methods and tools from organic chemistry, enzymology, directed evolution and microbiology, as well as bioinformatics and multiomics, to discover new microbial genes, enzymes, and metabolites, expand the chemistry of microbiomes, and deepen our understanding of the chemical ecology in the human gut and oral microbiomes, and in environmental microbial communities. Specifically, we will (1) investigate the chemistry encoded in human gut bacteriophages, (2) discover microbial natural products from the human oral microbiome and elucidate their chemical ecology, and (3) evolve microbiomes for the biodegradation of pervasive environmental pollutants. Our research efforts will ultimately elucidate how microbial chemistry influences human biology and ecosystems, and will create innovative approaches that will advance the fields of chemistry, microbiology, and engineering.

Honors & Awards

  • 2024 Best Talk in Chemical Biology, Harvard CCB Research Symposium, Harvard University
  • 2023 Stanford.Berkeley.UCSF Next Generation Faculty Award, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub and Sarafan ChEM–H
  • 2023 MIT Chemistry Future Faculty Award, Department of Chemistry, MIT
  • 2023 Postdoctoral Award for Professional Development, Harvard University
  • 2022 William Randolph Hearst Foundation Fellowship, Marine Biological Laboratory
  • 2019 Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Department of Chemistry, University of Rochester
  • 2018 Division of Organic Chemistry Travel Award, Division of Organic Chemistry, The American Chemical Society
  • 2017 W.D. Walters Award in Undergraduate Teaching, University of Rochester
  • 2017–2020 Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine
  • 2015 Arnold Weissberger Memorial Fellowship, Department of Chemistry, University of Rochester
  • 2015 Departmental Honors, Cal State LA
  • 2014–2015 Dean’s List, College of Natural and Social Sciences, Cal State LA
  • Gutierrez-Tunstad Chemistry Award, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Cal State LA

Representative Publications

  1. Li, C.; Stražar, M.; Mohamed, A.; Pacheco, J. A.; Walker, R. L.; Lebar, T.; Zhao, S.; Lockart, J.; Dame, A.; Thurimella, K.; Jeanfavre, S.; Brown, E.M.; Ang, Q. A.; Berdy, B.; Sergio, D.; Ivernizzi, R.; Tinoco, A.; Pischany, G.; Vasan, R. S.; Balskus, E.P.; Huttenhower, C.; Vlamakis, H.; Clish, C.; Shaw, S. Y.; Plichta, D.; Xavier, R. “Gut microbiome and metabolome profiling in Framingham Heart Study reveals cholesterol-metabolizing bacteria linked with lower cardiovascular risk” Cell 2024, 187, 1834–1852.e19. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.03.014
  2. Nam, D.†; Tinoco, A.†; Shen, Z.; Adukure, R.; Sreenilayam, G.; Khare, S. D.; Fasan, R. “Enantioselective Synthesis of α-Trifluoromethyl Amines via Biocatalytic N−H Bond Insertion with Acceptor-Acceptor Carbenes.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022 144, 2590−2602. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c10750 [* Highlighted in: Synfacts 2022, 543; Synfacts 2022, 18, 819]
  3. Tinoco, A.†; Wei, Y.†; Bacik, J. P.; Carminati, D. M.; Moore, E.J.; Ando, N.; Zhang, Y.; Fasan, R. “Origin of High Stereocontrol in Olefin Cyclopropanation Catalyzed by an Engineered Carbene Transferase.” ACS Catal. 2019, 9, 1514–1524. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.8b04073
  4. Vargas, D. A.; Tinoco, A.; Tyagi, V.; Fasan, R. “Myoglobin-Catalyzed C−H Functionalization of Unprotected Indoles.” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 9911–9915. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201804779
  5. Wei, Y.; Tinoco, A.; Steck, V.; Fasan, R.; Zhang, Y. “Cyclopropanations via Heme Carbenes: Basic Mechanism and Effects of Carbene Substituent, Protein Axial Ligand, and Porphyrin Substitution.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 1649–1662. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b09171
  6. Tinoco, A.; Steck, V.; Tyagi, V.; Fasan, R. “Highly Diastereo- and Enantioselective Synthesis of Trifluoromethyl-Substituted Cyclopropanes via Myoglobin-Catalyzed Transfer of Trifluoromethylcarbene.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 5293–5296. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b00768 [*Highlighted in: Chem. Eng. News 2017, 95, 5; Synfacts 2017, 13, 762; J. Am. Chem.
    Soc. 2017, 139, 14331.]
  7. Tyagi, V.; Sreenilayam, G.; Bajaj, P.; Tinoco, A.; Fasan, R. “Biocatalytic Synthesis of Allylic and Allenyl Sulfides via a Myoglobin-Catalyzed Doyle-Kirmse Reaction.” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 13562–13566. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201607278