GROUP LEADER – Ana O’Loghlen

My main scientific interest relies on understanding how the cellular phenotype, senescence, is regulated. My interest in senescence started during my postdoc at the Medical Research Centre (MRC) and Imperial College of London in the team of Jesus Gil, after a short postdoc at the Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO) with Angel Nebreda. I later briefly joined Gordon Peters lab at the London Research Institute (LRI, current Francis Crick Institute) before staring my own lab in October 2013 at Queen Mary University of London. At present, I have set up a lab at the Spanish National Research Centre (CSIC) based in Madrid  at the Centre for Biological Research (CIB) building.

PhD student - Marta Menéndez García

Biologist and neuroscientist. My laboratory experience began in 2021, with my 6-month stay at the Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) in Barcelona, for the completion of the Final Degree Project of the Biology degree, directed by Dr. Alfredo Mayor. This project was based on the use of Luminex technology to characterise Plasmodium falciparum in pregnant African women, a sentinel group for malaria surveillance. Subsequently, I had the opportunity to spend a year (from June 2022 to September 2023) in the laboratory of Dr. Sergio Gascón, for the completion of the Master's Thesis for the Master's Degree in Neuroscience.  In this project, we studied the influence of a reactive environment, characteristic of a brain injury, on the acquisition of plasticity and multipotency in vitro of astrocytes of the adult cortex and substantia nigra. 

Currently (September 2023), I am joining Dr. Ana O'Loghlen's research group as a lab technician, with the aim of determining and evaluating the physiological relevance of prostaglandins during senescence and rejuvenation, as well as other possible metabolomic regulators involved.

JAE Intro Fellow/MSc student - Mario Mira

My scientific research experience started with a yearlong collaboration in Guillermo Velasco’s and María del Mar Lorente’s group in the Department of Molecular Biology (UCM). In this lab I was involved in several projects, including my Final Degree Project, focused on the role of the Endocannabinoid signalling pathway in prostate cancer development, progression and drug response. I then graduated from Biology in the UCM in June 2023. Currently, I am working in Epigenetics and Cell senescence lab with a JAE Intro CSIC fellowship while also taking a Master’s Degree in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedicine In the UCM. My main interests include intercellular communication, cell senescence and signalling, specifically in cancer development, progression, drug resistance and the regulation of the tumour microenvironment. The aim of my project in Dr. Ana O’Loghlen’s group is to study cell senescence induction of breast cancer cells upon Palbociclib treatment and to elucidate the molecular pathways involved in Palbociclib resistance.

PhD student - Juan Manuel Barbero

JAE Intro Fellow/MSc student - Udane Morales

Biomedical Scientist. I started my research journey with a six-month internship in Dr. Miguel Chillón’s laboratory at the Institut de Neurociències, where I worked on gene therapy strategies for neurodegenerative diseases. After graduating in Biomedical Sciences from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), I pursued a Master 's degree in Translational Medicine Research in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM).

Currently, I am part of the Epigenetics and Cellular Senescence Lab at the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas (CSIC) with a JAE Intro fellowship. Alongside my research, I am working on my Master's Thesis, focusing on cellular senescence and its implications in ageing. My main interests lie in understanding the molecular mechanisms driving senescence and their role in age-related diseases.