Dra. Ariadna Laguna Tuset

I received my Biology degree, Health and Life Sciences specialization, in 2003 at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain). I got my Ph.D. in 2008 in the laboratory of Dr. Mariona Arbonés at the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG, Barcelona, Spain). My Ph.D. was devoted to study the molecular basis of Down Syndrome neurological alterations. In 2009, I joined the group of Professor Thomas Perlmann at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research – Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden) as a post-doctoral Marie Curie researcher to work on the transcriptional regulation of dopamine neurons during development and in pathological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.

In 2014, I moved back to Barcelona and joined the Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Group at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) as a Beatriu de Pinós post-doctoral researcher funded by AGAUR-FP7 Marie Curie Actions. Afterwards, I received a Young Investigator contract from the Spanish government (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO)) and a Junior Leader fellowship from the La Caixa Foundation to establish my own research lines within the group. In addition, I am an associate researcher at the Neuroscience Institute of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and Scientific Ambassador of the World Parkinson Coalition.

The research from my team is devoted to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of inter-organ communication in Parkinson’s disease and how this contributes to the pathophysiology and symptoms of this neurodegenerative disorder. Our research contributes to: (i) identify biomarkers for early detection, disease progression or response to treatment, (ii) identify new molecular targets and develop novel therapeutic strategies with disease-modifying potential, (iii) unravel molecular pathways common to other neurodegenerative or metabolic diseases. Researcher ID: F-9561-2016; Orcid: 0000-0002-9732-6677.