Víctor Borrell, awarded the “Importantes” prize by Información Alicante

21 de February de 2025

• Información has celebrated the 40th edition of these awards, which recognize the work of individuals, entities, institutions, companies, and associations in the province that have stood out throughout the year.

Juana Gallar, IN CSIC-UMH director, presented the award to researcher Víctor Borrell. Source: Información.

The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) Research Professor at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of CSIC and Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche, Víctor Borrell, has been awarded the «Importantes» prize for June by the newspaper Información Alicante for his discoveries about the brain.

Yesterday, the 40th edition of the Importantes Awards took place at the Alicante Provincial Auditorium (ADDA). With these awards, Información recognizes the effort and dedication of professionals, institutions, and entities that stood out in 2024, helping to elevate the name of Alicante beyond the province’s borders. Borrell received the award from the IN CSIC-UMH director, Juana Gallar.

The researcher, who leads the Neurogenesis and Cortical Expansion laboratory at IN, expressed his gratitude for this recognition of the dedicated work his research team has carried out over the years: “It is a great honor to receive this award for what it represents”. In this regard, Borrell emphasizes that his work has helped to internationalize Alicante as a scientific reference point: “For years, researchers in the United States, China, Australia, and Japan have known that we work in Alicante, they put it on the map thanks to the research we conduct”.

The interdisciplinary approach of his laboratory includes the use of human brain organoids and animal models to unravel the evolutionary and genetic processes that determine the size and complexity of the human brain. His recent research has demonstrated how microRNAs regulate progenitor cells in the embryonic brain, a crucial breakthrough for understanding pediatric brain cancer. Among his most notable discoveries is the identification of a new type of progenitor cell, the basal radial glial cell, which is essential for the folding of the human brain.

“We are currently focused on the birth of neurons and their stem cells, understanding what they are, what they do, and why, as well as the genetic mechanisms that control and regulate them. Our long-term goal is to understand the developmental processes responsible for the large size of the human brain and the formation of its characteristic folds”, Borrell explained to Información.

Scientific Career

Víctor Borrell (Vilanova i la Geltrú, 1972) earned his degree in Biology from the University of Barcelona, where he later obtained his PhD. He furthered his training with a four-year postdoctoral stay at the prestigious Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, USA. Since 2008, he has led a pioneer laboratory that remains at the forefront of research on the cellular and genetic mechanisms that control the expansion and folding of the cerebral cortex, the brain region responsible for our higher cognitive functions.

Víctor Borrell, CSIC Research Professor, in the laboratory he leads at IN CSIC-UMH.

The researcher has over 80 scientific publications in high-impact journals and is a global leader in developmental neurobiology. His work has received more than 8,500 citations and has been presented at prominent international scientific forums such as the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), the Japanese Society for Neuroscience, and several EMBO conferences. Additionally, he has led numerous projects funded by prestigious institutions such as the European Research Council (ERC), the Horizon Europe program, and the Spanish Association Against Cancer, focusing on the evolution of the human brain and the development of treatments for aggressive childhood brain tumors.

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