Main speakers

Main Speaker

Diego Alvarez de la Rosa is a Professor of Physiology at University of La Laguna, Spain. He received a PhD in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology working in the regulation of Na,K-ATPase isoform expression under the supervision of Prof. Pablo Martin-Vasallo and Prof. Julio Avila-Marrero. He then trained as a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Cecilia M. Canessa at Yale University School of Medicine, where he focused on the function and modulation of the ENaC/DEG family of ion channels. In 2005 he received the prestigious Ramón y Cajal Researcher Award (Spain) and started his own research group at the Department of Pharmacology, University of La Laguna. In 2009 he obtained a tenured Associate Professor position at the Department of Physiology, ULL. He was promoted to Full Professor in 2020. A major focus of his current research is aldosterone signaling and mineralocorticoid receptor modulation and function. His laboratory has been continuously funded by competitive national and international grants. He has been a member of the management committee and work package leader in the EU H2020 project REGPOT-IMBRAIN and the management committee of the EU COST-ADMIRE action. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of American Journal of Physiology – Renal Physiology, Frontiers in Physiology and Steroids. He is currently Director of the Institute of Biomedical Technologies (ULL) and Scientific Director of Fundación Bioavance (https://www.fundacionbioavance.org).

Frank Claessens is Professor Molecular Cell Biology at KU Leuven, Belgium. He received his PhD in Biomedical Sciences working on androgen response elements and androgen receptor (AR) activity. He strained as a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Malcolm Parker at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund working on steroid receptor coregulators. He returned to the KU Leuven where he became full professor. The current focus of his research is the androgen receptor: from structural studies to in vivo models and patient material. His laboratory is also involved in the development of alternative AR inhibitors, based on new insights in the molecular biology of the AR. He is member of the organizing committees of the Nuclear Receptor Research Network and Androgens. He is currently associated editorial of Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences and member of the editorial board of Steroids.

Inés Pineda Torra is an Honorary Professor in Cardiometabolic Medicine at University College London and till March 2022 led the Lipid Metabolism and Immunity Group and the Centre for Cardiometabolic and Vascular Science in the Division of Medicine. In April 2022 she moved to the Andalusian Center of Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine (CABIMER) as a Distinguished Principal Investigator employed by the Fundación Progreso y Salud from the Andalusian Health & Family Council to promote translational research. The overall research focus of her group is to understand the regulation of lipid metabolism at the level of gene expression, mainly mediated by the Liver X Receptor (LXR). They focus on how metabolic and immune pathways impact the progression of metabolic, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases. Her group has generated unique molecular biology tools, knock-in and knock-out animal and cellular models that have increased our understanding of how the activity of these receptors is modulated in contexts where lipid homeostasis is disturbed.

After her early Bsc studies in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University Complutense of Madrid, the PI worked on Lipid metabolism at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands with an ERASMUS Fellowship. She then investigated gene regulation by nuclear receptors for her PhD at the Pasteur Institute (France). After holding postdoctoral positions in the US, working on receptor regulation and signal transduction pathways in macrophages the PI joined UCL as a Lecturer in 2008 and she was promoted to Full Professor in 2019.

In addition to LXR transcriptional regulation, she has focused her research on the modulation of lipid metabolism by interferon signalling and the mechanistic basis of the increased cardiovascular risk in women with autoimmunity. To tackle these complex questions, she collaborates with clinical and academic experts and uses a range of cell and molecular biology, genomic, lipidomic and metabolomic approaches as well as a combination of animal models and human cell systems.

ACADEMIC CAREER: Marine ADLANMERINI obtained her PhD in Physiology at the University of Toulouse (France) in 2015. From 2016 to 2020, she worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Mitch Lazar in Philadelphia (USA). In 2021, she joined the Institute for Metabolic and Cardiovascular diseases in Toulouse as tenure researcher.

RESEARCH AREAS: Marine ADLANMERINI worked on estrogen receptor during her PhD, revealing the tissue-specific function of non-genomic ERa signaling in vivo. Using mouse models deficient for genomic or membrane-initiated ERa signaling, she highlighted the key role of non-genomic signaling in endothelium and vascular effects of estrogen. During her post-doctoral work, she notably studied the function of REV-ERB in hypothalamus. By combining mouse models and transcriptomic studies, she revealed the key role of REV-ERB to restrict diet-induced obesity by the control of leptin sensitivity and circadian period.

Key areas of expertise: nuclear receptor, estrogen signaling, circadian rhythms, REV-ERB, gender effect

AWARDS: Marine ADLANMERINI is ambassador for the “Women in Science” program since 2014.