I completed a degree in Biological Sciences (1993) and a PhD in Neuroscience (1993) at Universidad Complutense in Madrid (Spain) — my hometown. I subsequently joined the University of California in San Francisco as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of John L. R. Rubenstein. In 2003, I took a group leader position at the Instituto de Neurociencias in Alicante (Spain), where I worked until 2014. Since then, my laboratory has been located at King’s College London.
I have been fortunate to receive a number of awards since establishing my lab in 2003, including EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization) Young Investigator (2003) and European Young Investigator (EURYI) Awards (2004), Banco Sabadell Award for Biomedical Research (2008), Rey Jaime I Award on Basic Research (2011), FENS/EJN Young Investigator Award (2012), Wolfson Research Merit Award from the Royal Society (2014), and Prix Roger de Spoelberch (2014). In 2017, I received the Ramón y Cajal Medal from the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences — I am particularly proud of this one. More recently, I have received the IX Remedios Caro Almela Prize in Developmental Neurobiology (2019), the ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award (2023), and the FENS-EJN Award (2024).
I have dedicated some of my time to science policy. For example, I was selected as one of the 22 founding members of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC), where I served until 2010. I also serve on several editorial boards, including the Board of Reviewing Editors at Science.
I am currently Professor of Neurobiology at King’s College London, Head of the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology and Director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders. I am supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust, BBSRC, and MRC, as well as awards from the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative and the Rosetrees Trust.
You can download my CV here.
Affiliations
Centre for Developmental Neurobiology
The Centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King’s College London is devoted to studying the mechanisms governing the formation of the brain, both during embryonic development and in postnatal life, when early experience continues to shape how our brain is constructed.
Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders
The MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at King’s College London aims to identify the biological mechanisms underlying developmental brain disorders such as epilepsy, autism and schizophrenia, with the ultimate goal of translating this knowledge into clinical advances that change the lives of all those affected.