Poncho’s research has long centered on the intracellular detection of the interactions between endogenous and exogenous molecules including efficient selective protein labeling, novel proluminescent probes for enzyme and biomolecule detection, novel fluorescent tracer and dye development, and novel bioluminescent substrates.
Additionally, Poncho has lead chemistry research programs in drug candidates to enable psychedelic assisted therapies, fluorescent amidites to enable forensic DNA analysis, polymers to enable capillary electrophoresis, and magnetic microparticles to enable automated genomics.
He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Usona Institute and for the Chemical Probes Portal, and has currently co-authored over 30 journal articles/reviews and is an inventor for 29 issued patents and 81 pending patent applications. Poncho received his Ph.D. in Organic Synthesis at University of Colorado–Boulder and served on the faculty at California Polytechnic State University–SLO prior to joining Promega Corporation in 2001.