VEGA GARCIA-ESCUDERO


email: v.garcarcia-escudero@uam.es








In 1998, she joined the Experimental Gene Therapy Group under the supervision of Professor Marta Izquierdo as a collaborating student (1998/1999) and later as a predoctoral fellow (1999/2006). During this period, she pursued a doctoral thesis focused on a Gene Therapy system for the treatment of gliomas through the induction of Oxidative Stress and Autophagy. The research resulted in publications in high-impact scientific journals (J Gene Med, Mol Cancer Res, Autophagy, and Oncol Rep) and a patent. Throughout this tenure, she secured various publicly competitive scholarships (UAM Collaboration Scholarship, UAM Third-Cycle Student Aid, FPI CAM Fellowship). During her stay in Prof. Mahendra Deonarain's laboratory in London (Sep-Dec 03), she became acquainted with the field of therapy based on the use of Recombinant Antibodies. In June 2006, she joined the research group led by Prof. Jesús Ávila as a postdoctoral researcher under the supervision of Dr. Filip Lim. The purpose of the project was the reversible immortalization of neural-origin cell lines from patients for Cell Therapy of spinal cord injuries. This study was part of a Technology Transfer project with the Marcelino Botín Foundation and Noscira (formerly Neuropharma, Zeltia). This work led to high-level publications (Mol Ther, Glia, Cell Transpl, and Neurosc Letters) and a chapter in the book "Horizons in Neuroscience Research". Subsequently, we have developed a project for generating human cellular models of Neurodegenerative Diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Dr. Lim, UAM), resulting in a publication in J Cell Mol Med, and the pathophysiology of Tau (Prof. Ávila, CBMSO), leading to several publications (Int J Alzheimers Dis, J Neurosci Res, Oxid Med Cell Longev, Hum Mol Genet, Front Mol Neurosci, Front Cell Neurosci, J Alzheimers Dis, Autophagy). She also co-directed the doctoral thesis of Patricia Martín-Maestro with Prof. Ávila.



In 2015, she was granted a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy, Histology, and Neuroscience at the Faculty of Medicine of UAM. She currently holds a position as Associate Professor Doctor, continuing to teach in the Medicine and Human Nutrition and Dietetics undergraduate programs, as well as in the Master's in Neurosciences. Simultaneously, she is actively involved in research collaboration with Prof. Ávila's laboratory at CBMSO, serving as a member of the University Institute of Molecular Biology at UAM. During this period, her research has focused on the study of Tau and Alzheimer's pathology. In recent years, particular emphasis has been placed on investigating new variants of Tau generated by intronic retention, which are diminished in Alzheimer's disease. Specifically, they described a CW-Tau form that is more soluble and less prone to aggregation, with a sequence capable of inhibiting the aggregation of Tau and β-amyloid. This presents a novel therapeutic strategy for treating tauopathies. This project has resulted in several articles (Acta Neuropathol, Autophagy, Cells, ACS Chem Neurosci, J Alzheimers Dis Rep, and eBioMed) and a patent. Additionally, it formed the basis of the PhD thesis of Daniel Ruiz Gabarre, which she co-directed with Jesús Ávila, receiving the qualification of Summa Cum Laude (2023). Furthermore, in collaboration with the University of Seville and the University of California, a collaborative project was initiated to generate a vector carrying a ribozyme gene that transforms RNA encoding Tau into the therapeutic form encoding CW-Tau. This project was one of the six funded by Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the ION-ARPA 2022 call, securing an initial funding of $500,000 for two years for the development of this tool. Simultaneously, she has developed a research line focused on studying th e relevance of different dietary elements in Alzheimer's disease, leading to publications in journals such as Oxidative Medicine and Cell Longevity, Diseases, and Antioxidants. Additionally, she is engaged in a collaborative project with Dr. Ricardo Gargini from the Institute of Biomedical Research and the Pathological Anatomy Service of the Hospital 12 de Octubre. This project investigates the relevance of Tau in aging and the development of glioblastomas. The collaboration has resulted in a publication in the prestigious journal Sci Transl Med. Currently, they are co-supervising the doctoral thesis of Marta Caamaño Moreno, who holds an FPU scholarship.









 








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