Josune Alonso Martínez de Marañon. Post Doctoral Researcher.

I studied Biology at the University of Basque Country and then, I moved to Barcelona to complete a Master’s degree in Biomedicine at the University of Barcelona, where I started specializing in cancer research. In 2018, I started my doctoral studies in Biomedicine in the group of Molecular mechanisms of cancer and stemness at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM). During my PhD, my research was focused on elucidating novel molecular mechanisms involved in DNA damage response and therapy resistance in cancer. In September 2023, I joined the RNA-processing and therapeutics group to study RNA-misprocessing in glioblastoma.

Irene Santos-García Sanz. Post Doctoral Researcher.

My scientific background is related to molecular biology and biomedicine, specifically the study of the molecular landscape of neurodegenerative diseases and therapeutic targeting. I studied Biochemistry at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), followed by a Master's degree in Clinical Neuroscience. In early 2017, I started my Ph.D. at the Ramón y Cajal Health Research Institute (IRYCIS), focusing on the characterization of the endocannabinoid system and the search for new therapeutic targets in ALS and FTD. In 2022, I moved to Prof. Pahnke´s  lab at the University of Oslo (UiO), where I carried out my first postdoctoral stay in an project focused on the identification of new biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease through the application of multi-omics techniques. In May 2024, I returned to Spain where I joined Dr Blazquez's group at Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute (BHRI) to study and validate genetic variants and alterations in RNA processing that occur in the context of ALS and FTD.

Ane Velasco Bilbao. PhD Student.

I obtained a BSc in Genetics (Autonomous University of Barcelona) and two MSCs in Phylosophy, Science and Values (UPV/EHU, 2019) and Molecular Medicine (Autonomous University of Madrid, 2020). After an internship in Gene Editing at Oxford Genetics LTD-OXGENE (2020-2021), I joined the lab in February 2021 as a PhD student in Neurosciences.  I am interested in understanding how gene expression can impact on human health and how we can treat genetic diseases. During my PhD, I investigate alterations at the RNA processing level associated with progranulin deficiency in Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) in order to identify molecular markers with therapeutic potential and develop personalized medicine strategies based on the CRISPR-dCas13 system.

Ane Rubio Zulaika. PhD Student.

I graduated in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in 2018 and subsequently, I obtained a Master's degree in Health Biology at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). During these years, I have had the opportunity to join research groups in different centers such as the Achucarro Basque Neuroscience Center, the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO). Within biomedical research, I am interested in the molecular mechanisms involved in cancer progression, which has led me to develop my PhD in the RNA processing and therapeutics group where I am studying RNA processing in Glioblastoma in order to find diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers.

Alberto Damborenea Moreno. PhD Student.

I studied Biology at the University of the Basque Country, where I became mainly interested in the biological mechanisms that underlie animal behaviour. I then completed a master´s degree in Neurosciences at Universidad Complutense de Madrid to deepen my knowledge of the topic. In July 2021, I joined the Neurosciences Department at HRI Biodonostia, where I’m currently developing my thesis project focused on how RNA processing alterations impact neuromuscular diseases such as facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) in collaboration with Prof. Adolfo López de Munain. 

Laura Pérez-Fernández. PhD Student.

After finishing my BSc in Biotechnology at the University of León (2021), I  joined the lab as an MSc student in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine (UPV/EHU) for my Master Thesis. My project, co-supervised by Prof. Aitziber López-Cortajarena at CIC-biomaGUNE in San Sebastián, focused on developing protein-stabilized gold nanoclusters for delivery of CRISPR-dCas13 complexes for biomedical applications. Since October 2022, I am  doing my PhD between both groups, developing RNA-editing tools through protein engineering. 

María Manterola Larrañaga. PhD Student.

I finished my BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in 2021, and then moved to Barcelona to complete a master’s degree in Genetics and Genomics at the University of Barcelona (UB). I have always been interested in neuroscience too, so this project joined both of my interests. In September 2022, I joined Blazquez Lab as a research assistant, following my idea of gaining experience in the lab by working on multiple projects ongoing in the group, but with the goal of completing a PhD in the future.

María Carazo Hidalgo. Computational research assistant. 

I am a Biotechnology graduate from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, specialized in computational biotechnology. Throughout my academic journey, I gained practical experience through summer internships in CBGP (Madrid) and CRAG (Barcelona). Following these internships, I completed my final degree project, which was focused on a proteomics study to identify potential biomarkers in fragile X syndrome. Aiming to deepen my knowledge in both bioinformatics and neuroscience, I joined the neuroRNA lab in July 2024. As bioinformatician, I assist researchers with data processing and RNAseq data analysis across multiple projects, contributing to our understanding of misregulated RNA processing in neurological disorders.