Postdoctoral researchers
Raquel Pérez Gómez
- B.Sc. Biology, Faculty of Biology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
- M.S. Genetics, Faculty of Biology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
- PhD. Genetics applied to Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
My research trajectory initiated with the study of a genetic mouse model of cleft palate. For my PhD thesis, I made a study of the bovine skeletal muscle transcriptome variations that could explain the meat fatty acid profile, and during this period, I was involved in the Animal Nutrigenomics UCM team. My postdoctoral research focused on studying cell signalling in Drosophila systems involved in both metabolism and brain development. The international experience gained in applied genetics, covering various fields, has provided me with a multidisciplinary approach that fits nicely with the translational profile of this research team. I started in the Translational Genomics group as manager of the TATAMI project, focused on developing new innovative genetic therapies to treat DM1, consisting of the use of oligonucleotides to correct the pathological transcriptomic profile. I have broad expertise in transcriptomics and genomics, metabolism and development, as well as microscopy and imaging, among others.
Nowadays, I am Principal Investigator, together with Dr López-Castel, in the project titled "Nutrigenomic analyse of the effect of diets supplemented with citric fruits", with the cooperation of INCLIVA and the University of Valencia, sponsored by AVA-ASAJA.
Besides, I am regularly involved in science communication, publishing about genetics and other topics in different mainstream Spanish newspapers such as El País, eldiario.es and El Salto diario. My research for divulgation during the COVID-19 pandemic led me to publish a comprehensive review of the SARS-CoV-2 variants in the Journal of Development Biology.
Natalia Galindo
- B.Sc. Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences, Universitat de València, Spain
- PhD. Neurosiciences, Cardiff University, UK.
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Medicinsk Biokemi och Biofysik (MBB), Karolinska Institutet
My research career started studying Protocadherin 19, a protein strongly expressed in the brain that, when mutated, causes Early Infantile Epileptic Encephalopathy 9 in young girls.
This project allowed me to acquire expertise in molecular biology techniques, image analysis and confocal microscopy. I also got acquainted with cell culture, and mouse behavioural neuroscience.
During my postdoctoral research, I was the molecular biology expert in a group that investigated how RNA modifies its structure to conduct its diverse functions.
The broad approach led me to work with bacteria and cells, learning different techniques, such as cryo-EM and FACS analysis.
Currently, I obtained a Margarita Salas contract, with Artero’s team from Universitat de València. The project consists in the preclinical study of the progression of an antisense oligonucleotide-peptide conjugate that aims to become a treatment for muscular dystrophy type 1, which I will investigate for approximately 2 years in Oxford University, in Matthew Wood’s lab, and one in Universitat de València.
Raquel Atienzar Aroca
- Sc., University of Valencia, Spain, Chemistry
- M.S. University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, Experimental Biomedicine
- PhD. in Genetics, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
My research career started with the study of pyridine and pyrazole compounds and the study of their anticancer activity. My master's thesis and doctoral dissertation focused on the study of optic neuropathy, specifically glaucoma, using zebrafish as an animal model. The aim of the research focused on the study of the genetic basis of congenital and juvenile glaucoma, and its genetic diagnosis using zebrafish for functional studies of candidate genes, generating knock-out, knock-in or transgenic models. Also, the identification of new genes involved in this pathology and ocular development using whole exome sequencing was of interest.
During my scientific career I have become familiar with several laboratory techniques, from histological methods including staining, embedding of animal and human tissue in different media and use of cryostat to molecular biology techniques such as immunostaining, PCR, RT-PCR, q-PCR, WB, RNA, DNA and protein extraction and the handling of zebrafish.
Currently, I am working in the Translational Genomics laboratory under an INCLIVA contract with Arturo López Castel.
Dulce Peris Moreno
- B.Sc. in Biotechnology, Catholic University of Valencia, Spain
- B.Sc. in Marine Sciences, Catholic University of Valencia, Spain
- M.Sc. in Medical Biology, Radboud University, Netherlands
- Ph.D. in Health Biology, University of Clermont-Auvergne, France
I graduated in Marine Sciences and in Biotechnology at the Catholic University of Valencia (Spain) in 2016 and completed my master’s degree in Medical Biology in 2019 by the Radboud University (Netherlands). During my master’s first internship I studied NTNG2 as a candidate gene of Intellectual Disability at Radboud UMC (Netherlands) while during my second internship my project was to define novel G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) targets in neurodegeneration at the University of Glasgow (United Kingdom).
During my Ph.D. in Health Biology (2019-2022) at INRAE and University of Clermont-Auvergne (France) I developed new strategies to limit MuRF1/TRIM63-mediated muscle protein loss. MuRF1/TRIM63 is a ubiquitin-ligase enzyme (E3) that targets muscle contractile proteins during many diseases (cancer, renal/heart failures, diabetes, etc.) in combination with ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2s), and is associated with patient's health impairment and mortality. My study aimed at characterising functionally (in vivo transfection, immunohistochemistry) and biochemically (SPR and MicroScale Thermophoresis) muscle specific MuRF1-E2 couples leading to contractile protein degradation. In addition, a drug screening (in cellulo Split-GFP assay + ~9000 compounds library) was also performed to enable the development of an innovative strategy to fight against patient's weakness by inhibiting MuRF1-E2s interaction.
Currently, I am a junior researcher at the Translational Genomics laboratory. My work is to characterise antisense oligonucleotides as potential therapy against skeletal muscle atrophy in the pathological context of Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1.