Paola Bovolenta - Biography#

PB is one of the most prestigious Spanish scientists with international recognition in the field of Developmental Neurobiology. Her early work set the ground to identify the mechanisms of visual axon sorting at the chiasm and the role of the floor plate in commissural axon guidance and ventral neural tube specification. She also established the inhibitory role of specific proteoglycans on axon elongation and regeneration and identified key gene regulatory networks and morphogenetic mechanisms underlying vertebrate eye development and the associated causes of congenital eye defects. She pioneered work on the role of morphogens as axon guidance cues and investigates the pathogenic role of SFRP1 protein in Alzheimer’s disease, a finding that stems from her developmental work. She authors >130 articles (e.g. Nat Neurosci, Dev Cell, Nat Comm, EMBO Rep, eLife, EMBO Mol Med) most as senior author (>10.300 citations, h-index 57). She received continuous support from local, national and international public and private funding agencies (e.g. CAM, AEI, PTI-Aging, ERA-NET, FP7, HFSP, Fund R. Areces, T. Perez, Cure Alzheimer Fund). She coordinates the 3rd very successful edition of a national Network of Excellence on Dev Neurobiol, and the 2nd successful edition of ERA-NET project on Developmental Visual disorders. She mentored 21 PhD Students (4 ongoing) and 20 postdocs, most of whom successfully lead their own research groups in Spain or abroad. She coordinated the 2020 CSIC White paper “The origin, (co) evolution, diversity and synthesis of life”, that originated the CSIC-LIFE-HUB and co-leads the creation of a CSIC platform for organoid use in Biomedicine. Among other current engagements, she is member of the ERC Scientific Council and chairs its Open Science Working group. She is also member of the UE Core Group on Reform of Research Assessment. She is senior Editor of EJN, eLife Reviewing Editor, and member of the Editorial Board of other journals in developmental biology. She is part of the SAB of the ERA-NET Neuron Program and of several European Institutes and Foundations. She is EMBO member (2012) and current President of the Spanish Society for Neuroscience. She acted as Coordinator of the Biology and Biomedicine Area of the CSIC (2008-2012), among several other activities.