Seniors
Valérie Chevalier
Born in Valence (France). She graduated in Organism Biology (2001) and in Cellular and Molecular Biology (2003) by the Joseph Fourier University (Grenoble). She obtained her PhD in 2008 with a research on the improvement of paper and card board recycling processes. In 2010 she joined the Cajal Institute where her current work consists in the ultrastructural identification of synaptic connexions in the ellipsoidal body and olfactory glomeruli in the brain of Drosophila. To that end, she uses electron microscopy and genetic strains that allow the identification of cell profiles in these brain centers.
 |
The image shows an electronic micrograph from a larval synaptic bouton. |
Ángel Acebes
Born in Madrid. Graduate in Biochemistry by the Autonomous University of Madrid in 1990. He obtained his Master Thesis in the laboratory of Dr. Francisco Tejedor in 1994 and his Ph.D. by Autonomous University of Madrid in 1999 working in the laboratory of Dr. Alberto Ferrús, at the Cajal Institute (CSIC). He conducted a postdoctoral training of three years in the Department of Development and Chemical Communication in Insects, UMR-5548, Faculty of Sciences, University of the Burgundy, Dijon (France) in the laboratory of the Dr. Jean François Ferveur. He has been receiver of a CNRS (2000-2001) and Marie Curie Fellowships (2001-2003) and he returned to Spain in 2004 with a Marie Curie ERG (European Reintegration Grant) Contract of the European Community (2004-2007). At present, he holds a Ramon y Cajal Contract (2007-2012). His research focuses on the development and activity of the nervous system of Drosophila, using precise genetic manipulations and multidisciplinary approaches like electrophysiology and behaviour. His current research involves the functional analysis of in vivo changes in the number of synapse in specific olfactory neurons.
 |
IImage shows a single local excitatory interneuron of the antennal lobe from a FRT somatic clone and revealed with -GFP. |
Alicia Mansilla
Born in Madrid. She obtained her master degree in Biology at the Complutense University of Madrid in 2000. She gained her Ph.D. degree by the Autónoma University of Madrid in 2005. In her PhD project at the Center of Biology investigation (CIB) she studied insulin gene expression regulation in early development using chicken and mouse as model systems. In 2006 she moved to the laboratory of Professor David Rubinsztein at Cambridge University (UK) were she started her research in the ubiquitin-proteasome system and its role in neurodegenerative disseases. In 2008 she moved to Cajal Institute in Madrid with a “Juan de la Cierva“ contract where she continues her research on ubiquitin and ubiquitin like proteins, as regulators of ecdisone receptors and other transcriptional cofactors in Drosophila.
 |
Image shows the polytene chromosomes from a salivary gland cell of a wild type males stained for DNA (blue), RNA polimerase (green) and the transcriptional cofactor ADA3 (red). |
Sergio Casas-Tintó
Born in Madrid (1977) and graduated in Biology, speciality in Neurobiology, by the Complutense University (2001). His PhD project was supervised by Dr. B. Granadino at the Center for Biological Investigations and related to the role of Fox genes in the embryogenesis of Drosophila (2006). At the Helsinki University he studied the insulin promotor during the fly development in the lab of Dr. O. Puig (2006). He also worked as a postdoc in the Texas University at Galveston with Drs. Fernandez-Fúnez and Rincón-Limas. He joined the lab in Jan 2011 to study the mechanisms of the Tn-Tm motor in the establishment of the apico-basal cell polarity.
 |
Blastoderm cells showing the localization of Disc large in the normal case (+) and in a null mutant for Troponin I. |
Juniors
Sheila Jordan-Alvarez
Born in Gijón (Asturias). Graduate in Biochemistry (2006) and in Biology (2009) by the Autónoma University of Madrid. The purpose of her PhD project is the identification of other components of the PI3K - dependent synaptogenic pathway and the effect of these new synapses in the postsynaptic proteins.
 |
The photo shows the larvae's muscles 6/7 in the neuromuscular junction.
Green = nc82 Red = α-HRP. Bar=20 μm |
Jaime Jurado
Born in Madrid, he graduated in Biology at the Autonomous University of Madrid (2007). He learnt the basis of Drosophila embryology and genetics at Professor Alfonso Martinez Arias’ lab in the University of Cambridge in UK in 2007. His main projects in the lab consist in establishing the role of lithium treatment in synaptogenesis and to investigate the coincident synapses in the Ellipsoid Body. His most frequently used techniques are electron and confocal microscopy.
 |
The image shows a high-magnification TEM section of the Ellipsoid Body (Martín-Peña et al., 2006) |
Mercedes Arnés
She was born in Salamanca and graduated in Biology (2007) and Biochemistry (2009) at the Salamanca University. She learnt the basic techniques in molecular biology at the Molecular Genetics and Biology Institute (IBGMC-CSIC) in Valladolid where she worked on native immunity and neurodegeneration with Dr. M. Nieto. Her PhD project addresses the relationship between the number of synapses and the integration of olfactory stimuli and their potential use as an early marker of Alzheimer’s disease.
 |
 |
| Image.- Olfactory organs in Drosophila. The antenna (left) contains the sensory cells and the antennal lobe (right) contains the sensory axon terminals. These establish contacts with other interneurons, forming glomeruli. |
Summers Students
Suhail Idrees
Born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1988. He graduated with a B.S. in Biology at SUNY College at Old Westbury in 2010. His goal is to become a modest physician while complementing his clinical studies with research specializing in oncology.
Master students
Teresa Merino-Ramos
Born in Madrid and graduated in Biology by the Autonomous University of Madrid (2010).
Currently, she studies the "Genetics and Cell Biology" master by the UAM, UCM and UAH Universities. She carries out her master thesis research project in the Cajal Institute.
External collaborations
Prof. Imre Boros
SZTE, Biokemiai es Molekularis Biologiai Tanszek
Kozepfasor 52, Szeged, 6726 Hungary. borosi@bio.u-szeged.hu
Prof. Miguel Morales
Neurophysiology Lab. Department of Physiology. School of Medicine. University of Barcelona. Spain. miguelmorales@ub.edu
Prof. David Martín-Casacuberta
Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF). Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain. david.martin@ibe.upf-csic.es
|
