Bio
Dr. Josefina Gutiérrez is a wildlife veterinarian and disease ecologist serving as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Pathobiology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, St. George’s University (SGU), where she works in the Wild Immunology Lab with Dr. Mauricio Seguel. Her research is part of the Isla Guafo Project in Chilean Patagonia and focuses on microbiome transmission through social interactions, health assessments, and the adaptive responses of South American fur seals to rapidly changing marine environments. She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree from the Universidad de Chile, followed by an M.Sc. in Animal Health and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from Universidad Austral de Chile.
Dr. Gutiérrez’s research bridges wildlife health, ecology, and disease dynamics, integrating veterinary and ecological perspectives to understand how physiological and environmental variability shape health in wild populations. Using molecular and ecological data, she has investigated population genetics, host-pathogen interactions, and the temporal and spatial dynamics of wildlife viromes. She has extensive field experience in marine wildlife rescue and research across coastal and sub-Antarctic ecosystems, using marine mammals as sentinels of environmental change and emerging disease processes.
Research & Interests
- Marine mammal health and medicine
- Wildlife disease ecology
- Host–pathogen interactions
- Virome and microbiome dynamics in wild populations
- Sentinel species and environmental change
Affiliations
- Saint George’s University
- Universidad Austral de Chile
- Isla Guafo Project
- ANILLO SEALS Project
Journal Articles
- Gutiérrez J, Seguel M, Saenz-Agudelo P, Acosta-Jamett G, Verdugo C. (2024) Host genetic diversity and body condition influence parasite resistance and clearance in a wild marine mammal population. Biology Letters, 20(10), rsbl.2024.0302. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0302
- Gutiérrez J, González-Acuña D, Fuentes-Castillo D, Fierro K, Hernández C, Zapata L, Verdugo C. (2024) Antibiotic resistance in wildlife from Antarctic Peninsula. Science of The Total Environment, 916: 170340. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170340
- Gutiérrez J, Seguel M, Saenz-Agudelo P, Acosta-Jamett G, Verdugo C. (2021) Genetic diversity and kinship relationships in one of the largest South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) population of the Pacific Ocean. Ecology & Evolution, 00:1–11. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7683
- Peña-Galindo I, Bernales-Santolaya B, Montalva F, Gutiérrez J, Quesada-Alvarado F, Navarrete-Quintanilla S, Robbins V, Perez-Venegas DJ, Cortés-Hinojosa G, Seguel M, Chiang G. (2025). Pups on mercury: Tracking early life exposure on South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis) and South American sea lions (Otaria byronia) in the Southeastern Pacific. Aquatic Toxicology, 282:107325. DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2025.107325
- Perez-Venegas DJ, Montalva F, Gutiérrez J, Gómez-Camus A, Angel A, Ulloa-Contreras C, Molina-Burgos BE, Chiang G, Harrod C, Pavés H, Sepúlveda M, Seguel M. (2024). Maternal Care Strategies Differentially Optimize the Health and Immunity of Male and Female South American Fur Seal Pups. Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology, 97(6):1-15. DOI: 10.1086/733793
- Seguel M, Perez-Venegas D, Gutiérrez J, Crocker D, DeRango E. (2019). Parasitism elicits a stress response that allocates resources for immune function in South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis). Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 92(3):326–338. DOI: 10.1086/702960
- Montalva F, Perez-Venegas D, Gutiérrez J, Seguel M. (2019). The contrasting hidden consequences of parasitism: Effects of a hematophagous nematode (Uncinaria sp.) in the development of a marine mammal swimming skills. Ecology and Evolution 9:3689–3699. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4914
- Seguel M, Montalva F, Perez-Venegas D, Gutiérrez J, Paves H, Mueller A, Valencia C, Howerth E, Mendiola V, Gottdenker N. (2018). Immune mediated hookworm clearance and survival of a marine mammal decreases with warmer ocean temperatures. eLife. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.38432
- Seguel M, Gutiérrez J, Hernández C, Montalva F, Verdugo C. (2018). Respiratory Mites (Orthohalarachne diminuata) and ß-hemolytic Streptococci-Associated Bronchopneumonia Outbreak in South American Fur Seal Pups (Arctocephalus australis). Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 54(2):380-385. DOI: 10.7589/2017-09-214
- Rodrigues P, Seguel M, Gutiérrez J, Pavés H, Verdugo C. (2018). Genetic connectivity of South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) across Atlantic and Pacific oceans revealed by mitochondrial genes. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 1-9. DOI: 10.1002/aqc.2870
Selected Projects
- Isla Guafo Project: Long-term health and ecological monitoring of South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis).
- ANILLO SEALS Project: Oceanographic monitoring of the Cape Horn Current using southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina).
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