Meet the team
Junior Group Leader
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7452-3176
Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1oE7p-MAAAAJ&hl=es
Dr. Carolina Alquezar is a neuroscientists specialized in the use of in vitro cultures to study the mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration and as tools for drug discovery. She completed her PhD at Dr. Angeles Martin-Requero’s lab (CIB-CSIC, Madrid), studying the molecular mechanisms regulating cell proliferation/death in neurodegenerative diseases such as frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer´s disease and Parkinson´s disease. After finalizing her PhD, Dra. Alquézar was awarded a Ramon Areces postdoctoral fellowship to carry out a postdoc at Dr. Aimee Kao’s laboratory (UCSF, USA), where she used cutting-edge techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, iPSC culture, and neuronal differentiation to study the mechanisms regulating Tau accumulation in tauopathies. Upon completion of her postdoctoral training, Dr. Alquezar served as Assistant Professional Researcher at UCSF. In 2022 she returned to Spain supported by a Miguel Servet fellowship that facilitated the establishment of her independent research group at the Research Institute of Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid.
Carolina Alquézar
Sofia Soria
Research Assistant
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Sofía graduated in Biotechnology from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) in 2023. She also holds a Master’s degree in Translational Biomedical Research from Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) and Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), where where she gained hands-on experience in a hospital setting and expanded her expertise in neurological diseases.
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As a research assistant, Sofía plays a key role in supporting the team’s projects. Her primary responsibilities include culturing induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and differentiating them into neurons and brain organoids. She also processes blood and tissue samples from patients with neurodegenerative diseases.
Ariadna Sancha
PhD Student
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Ariadna graduated in Biomedical Sciences from the Universitat de Barcelona (UB) in 2021. Later, she obtained a specialization in Neuroscience through the Master's degree in Neuroscience at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). During her academic training, Ariadna completed short stays in national and international laboratories, where she participated in research projects focused on the study of neurodegeneration.
Ariadna's thesis project (FPU-2023 funded) focuses on the comparative study of the role of tau in autophagy with the aim of improving the treatment and diagnosis of Frontotemporal Dementia.
PhD Student
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Jorge holds a degree in Basic and Experimental Biomedicine from the Universidad de Sevilla (2020) and a Master in Neuroscience from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). Before starting his PhD with a FPU fellowship, Jorge worked in several laboratories specialized in neuroscience.
In his thesis project, Jorge utilizes neural models derived from iPSCs to study the mechanisms leading to alterations in autophagy and mitophagy in Frontotemporal Dementia and as a platform for drug screening.
Jorge Navarro
Co-supervised PhD Students
Mario Díaz
Mario holds a degree in Biology and a Master in Neuroscience, both from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM).
In his thesis project, Mario studies mitochondrial alterations associated with ATP13A2 deficiency and their implications in neurodegeneration.
His thesis is co-supervised with Dr. Fernando Bartolomé (i+12 Institute).
Guiomar Rodrigez
Guiomar graduated in Basic and Experimental Biomedicine from the Universidad de Sevilla and holds a Master in Neurosciences from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM).
Her thesis project focuses on studying how SORL1 deficiency affects mitochondria and autophagy in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The thesis is co-supervised with Dr. Fernando Bartolomé (i+12 Institute).
Carmen Pérez de Lastra
Carmen works since 2021 in the Biosensors in Neuroscience laboratory at IMDEA Nanoscience.
Her thesis project is based on the development of biosensors for the characterization and drug discovery in models derived from patients with neurodegenerative diseases. The thesis is supervised with Dr. Valle Palomo (IMDEA Nanoscience).
Interns and Undergraduate students
- Ainara Martín Mugarza. Biotechnology Grade, UPM. TFG and internship. Academic year 2023-2024.
- Elisa Valero Jiménez. Biotechnology Grade, UPM. TFG and internship. Academic year 2022-2023.
- Miriam Solera Sainero. Research in Translational medicine Masters, UCM. TFM. Academic year 2022-2023
- Ariadna Sancha Velasco. Neuroscience Masters, UAM. TFM and internship. Academic year 2022-2023.