After pursuing a Pharmacy Degree and a Master’s Degree in Chemistry at the University of Costa Rica, Parra obtained a PhD in Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Strathclyde working in the group of Katherine R. Duncan in the area of ​​antibiotic discovery from marine actinomycetes. Currently, he works as an associate researcher at the Natural Products Research Centre (CIPRONA) and the National Centre for Biotechnology Innovations (CENIBiot).

Parra aims to integrate omics technologies for the study and discovery of new antibiotics from actinomycetes, as well as to better understand their ecological role in nature.