I have a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Barcelona (1993) and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Paris 6 (1998). My doctoral work carried out in the laboratory of experimental neurology at the Salpetriere Hospital in Paris (1993-98) contributed to establishing the subthalamic nucleus as the main therapeutic target for the surgical treatment of Parkinson's disease with deep brain stimulation. From 1998 to 2005 I worked at the Movement Disorders Unit of Columbia University in New York (USA), initially as a postdoctoral researcher and from 2001 as an Assistant Professor of Neurology, focusing on the study of the mechanisms of neuronal death in Parkinson's disease to identify new therapeutic targets for this currently incurable neurodegenerative disorder.
In 2006 I moved to Barcelona as a Professor at ICREA (Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies) to create and lead a new research group in neurodegenerative diseases at the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR). Our group is now part of the Center for Networked Biomedical Research on Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED) and the Aligning Science Across Parkinson's Collaborative Research Network (ASAP-CRN).
I am also an Associate Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Principal Investigator at CIBERNED, Coordinating Lead PI at ASAP-CRN and member of the Steering Committees of the World Parkinson Coalition and the Basic Science Special Interest Group of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
