Diana Morant and Eloísa del Pino visits the Institute for Neurosciences UMH-CSIC

12 de January de 2024

The Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), received a visit from the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, and the president of the CSIC, Eloísa del Pino, who traveled to Alicante to see first-hand some of the facilities of the largest publicly funded center dedicated to brain research in both normal and pathological conditions in Spain.

The IN management team, made up of the director Ángel Barco, the vice director, Emilio Geijo, and the manager, María Teresa García, has received the president of the CSIC and an assembly has been held with the research, technical, and management staff of the Institute. Eloísa del Pino shared the CSIC projects with the attendees and congratulated them for the work they do in this center of excellence.

The rector of the UMH, Juan José Ruiz, the vice-rector for Research and Transfer of the UMH, Ángel Carbonell, the vice-rector for planning and Social responsibility of the UMH, Domingo Orozco, the Government delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, and the Institutional delegate of the CSIC in the Valencian Community, Juan Fuster, also attending the visit. After this meeting, the delegation received the Minister of Science, Innovation, and Universities and took a tour of several IN laboratories

Photo: Diana Morant in the laboratory directed by researcher Silvia De Santis at the IN-CSIC-UMH

During the tour, they visited the Translational Imaging Biomarkers laboratory of the Molecular Neurobiology and Neuropathology Department. The principal investigator of this laboratory, Silvia De Santis, has shown them various works carried out in these facilities. This laboratory focuses on the development, optimization, and application of non-invasive and innovative resonance imaging tools, with a translational approach that is relevant both in basic research and in the clinical field. Her research pays special attention to healthy aging and pursues the goal of identifying early biomarkers that may precede neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease or multiple sclerosis.

Photo: Diana Morant and Eloísa del Pino visiting, along with the rest of the authorities, the laboratory directed by researcher Guillermina López Bendito at the IN-CSIC-UMH

In addition, they have also visited the Development, Plasticity, and Reprogramming of Sensory Circuits laboratory, where they were able to see the facilities together with Guillermina López-Bendito, principal researcher and director of the Developmental Neurobiology Department. The general objective of this laboratory is to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in axonal guidance of the main axonal tracts of the mammalian central nervous system. The long-term aspiration of her research is to repair defective neuronal connections in patients with sensory defects such as blindness.

Photo: The minister of Science, Innovation, and Universities and the president of the CSIC in the center of the image, together with the Government delegate of the Valencian Community, upon their arrival at the IN-CSIC-UMH.

See press release in attached PDF file.

Source: Institute for Neurosciences UMH-CSIC (in.comunicacion@umh.es)