Raul

Understanding long-term brain programming mechanisms is essential in order to identify new therapeutical approaches to prevent or delay diseases like depression and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). During my 14 years of scientific career, my main interest has been focused on understanding how environmental factors (mal)program our aging process towards a chronic disease such as depression or AD. During pursuit of my scientific projects I have gained competence in a wide array of research methods (different species, different areas of biomedical research). Amassing this technical repertoire required a high degree of motivation, curiosity, hard work and most of all, the aptitude to learn and apply new skills within the framework of my research studies. Furthermore, the scope of my theoretical and conceptual knowledge base has grown significantly through collaborations with other labs and international stays (UK & Germany). The role of epigenetic regulation of brain’s function is currently, one of the most exciting areas of medical neuroscience. Thus, my current projects focus on the understanding of the neuroepigenomic alterations related to early stages of AD, Rett Syndrome and other human evolutionary aspects. Because of my commitment to the scientific community, since 2004 I have been involved in several scientific societies such as Spanish Society of Neurosciences (SENC; currently as a member of the Young Neuroscientists’ Committee and Women in Neuroscience’s Committee) and the Society of Spanish Researchers in Germany (CERFA; founder and 1st president) that has helped me to gain important insights in management of human resources and scientific communication.