Merce Pallàs

Assistant professor, 1991-1992 and non-permanent Tenure position (Depart Pharmacology and Medical Chemistry, UB); in 1992-1993: post-doctoral position at Istituto Mario Negri Sud, Depart Molecular Endocrinology, Italy; 1993-2011, Tenure professor and from 2011, full professor in the University of Barcelona.
The research conducted in recent years by the research group has focused primarily on three sections: (A) Study of the molecular mechanisms involved in the cognitive decline, by using mainly in vivo models of late and early AD and cognitive decline gated to ageing; (B) Behavioral evaluation and characterization of these models; (C) Evaluation of pharmacological intervention in those models to determine new drugs. We are working for more than 15 years with the SAM (senescence accelerated mouse) strain prone to early aging and sporadic AD, as well as with 5xFAD, as a model of hereditary AD. These mice are an excellent model to study the relationship between the aging process and predisposition to develop a neurodegenerative disease. The main objective of the research project developed in the last 5 years is focused in the discovery of new drugs, which act in new targets, to face one of the challenges of current biomedicine, which is the cognitive deterioration, linked to aging and neurodegenerative processes, such as Alzheimer’s disease, as well as to study non pharmacological (Diet, exercise, caloric restriction) and pharmacological strategies (melatonin, resveratrol) to ameliorate and to prevent them with a special focus on drugs acting in new targets for cognitive decline. As applicative follow out of the research, I am currently interested in discern the precise mechanisms of action and the molecular pathways implicated of new drugs synthetized in UB that modulate inflammation (soluble Epoxide hydrolase inhibitors), mitochondrial stress, oxidative stress (imidazoline 2 receptors) in pathological senescence and the crossroad with epigenetics (inhibitors of G9a among others).
Dr. Pallas has participated in 16 research projects, 7 projects as IP (4 from Spanish Science Council, 2 from Health Council, 1 from Fundació la Marató, and 1 from Spanish Culture Council). From 2005 I belong to CIBERNED (Neurodegenerative disease network centers) and to Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology of Neurodegenerative Diseases (017SGR106, Consolidated research group by Government of Catalonia https://www.ub.edu/medicinalchemistrypharmacology/)