Affiliation: Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante, CSIC-UMH

Fields or areas of research Neurosciences

I obtained my BSc degree in Biology from the University of Valencia (UV) in 2008. In 2010, I joined the laboratory of Dr. Eduardo de Puelles at the Institute of Neurosciences of Alicante (IN) UMH-CSIC to carry out my PhD studies. I focused on study the development of the habenulo-interpeduncular circuit.

After obtaining my doctorate in 2015 from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, my growing interest in axon guidance and neural circuit development prompted me to join the laboratory of Dr. Alain Chédotal at the Institut de la Vision (Paris, France).  We studied the molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of commissural systems, which connect both hemispheres of the brain. Our work has been a conceptual revolution in the mechanisms involved in how the commissural axons are guided towards the ventral midline of the brain during mammalian embryonic development (Nature 2017, Development 2018, Neuron 2019). Furthermore, I worked in applying these new concepts to other brain regions, such as the cerebellum. My interests grew in understanding how alterations in the processes orchestrating the development of cerebellum impact in the global function of the brain. For that reason, in 2019, I joined to Dr. Guillermina López-Bendito laboratory at the IN through a Marie Skolodwska-Curie Action to study how the cerebello-thalamic interactions during brain development.

In 2020 I was awarded with the Ramón y Cajal fellowship and the ERC Starting Grant that allowed me to stablish my own independent laboratory focused on studying the Development, Wiring and Function of Cerebellar Circuits.
In 2021, I waas awarded with the SEJIGENT grant that allows me to start a new research line based on understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the wiring of the local circuits of the cerebellum. Furthermore, my research trajectory was recognized with the Olympus Prize for Junior Researchers from the Spanish Society of Neuroscience (SENC).