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.

MSc - Celia Palomino

Biotechnologist, specialized in Biomedicine.  My first steps in scientific research started during my Erasmus experience in Würzburg,  Germany, where I had the possibility to join local laboratories as an  intern student. Subsequently I carried out my Final Degree Project at  the Andalusian Centre for Developmental Biology in Gloria Brea's  group, whose research was based on the study of rare mitochondrial  diseases caused by pathological mutations. After graduating as a  biotechnologist in Seville, I moved to Madrid to pursue a Master's  degree in Molecular Biomedicine. Here, I was awarded the CNIC-Acciona fellowship that allowed me to develop my Master's Thesis at the National Centre for Cardiovascular Research in Vicente Andrés’s  group, focused on the study of the ultra-rare disease Hutchinson  Gilford progeria, characterized by extreme premature ageing.  Now, I  am joining Ana O'Loghlen's group to study senescent heterogeneity and  its dynamic secretome during ageing, and how it influences the immune  microenvironment.

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

Postdoctoral Fellow - Saranya Prashath

I completed my undergraduate studies in Biological Sciences and then followed a special degree in Chemistry at the Eastern University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka. I obtained first class in my undergraduate and special degree. I received my PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Kent, UK in 2023. In my PhD work, I investigated the effect of L-Arg supplementation on cell culture models (adipose and liver cells) and demonstrated how L-Arg modulated cellular metabolism that underpins metabolic disorders. I had an opportunity to learn new research skills and to explore in a well-established laboratory in a developed country. After the completion of my PhD, I have been working as a postdoctoral research assistant under the principal investigator Professor Ana O'Loghlen at the Epigenetics and Cellular Senescence Group at the Queen Mary University of London, UK since June 2023. The aim of the project is to investigate how senescent and proliferative cells communicate with each other and change their respective phenotypes via soluble factors and extracellular vesicles. I am happy to work for this project and I am excited to know the outcome of this project work.