I obtained my PhD in Biology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in 1989, carrying out my doctoral thesis at the Instituto Cajal (CSIC). I subsequently held a position as Assistant Professor at the Universitat de Barcelona (UB), from where I moved in 1993 to the University of California, San Francisco as a Fulbright and Human Frontier Science Program Organization postdoctoral fellow, as well as a research assistant. During this period, I studied the essential functions of neurotrophic factors, making significant contributions that were published in leading scientific journals and later incorporated into major neuroscience textbooks.

In 1998, I joined the Universitat de València (UV), where I have been Full Professor of Cell Biology since 2008, and where I have since coordinated the Molecular Neurobiology group (NEUROMOL; GIUV2017-370). In addition to my own laboratory, this group integrates several research teams led by independent female investigators, whose recruitment and consolidation I have actively supported. As an independent investigator in Spain, my research has focused on the biology of the neural stem cell (NSC) niche in the adult brain. My group has contributed, among other advances, to establishing blood vessels as a key component of neurogenic niches, demonstrating that NSC quiescence is an actively regulated state, identifying non-canonical functions of cell cycle regulators in NSC maintenance, and elucidating the roles of cell adhesion and inflammation in NSC regulation—fundamental aspects with clear relevance to our understanding of brain ageing and repair.

My entire scientific career has been devoted to the field of neurobiology, in which I have published more than 130 research articles, a significant number of them in leading international journals. With an h-index of 51 and over 19,000 citations (an average of 113 citations per article), I rank among the top 2% of most highly cited scientists worldwide (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000918). I have led more than forty competitive research projects funded at the national and regional levels, as well as by private foundations, including an ERC Advanced Grant awarded in 2022. My group has been part of the Spanish Cell Therapy Network, in which I served on the management board, is a member of the Biomedical Research Networking Center in Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED), where I currently serve as Deputy Director, and has been recognized as a Prometeo Excellence Research Group by the Generalitat Valenciana. In addition, my group is part of the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine of the UV, of which I am currently Director.

I have served on the governing board of the International Society of Differentiation and of the Spanish Societies for Neuroscience, Gene and Cell Therapy, and Developmental Biology. Since 2013, I have been an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). In 2014, I was selected by the Botín Foundation–Banco Santander to participate in its highly selective science program aimed at promoting technology transfer, and in 2015 I received the “Investigació i Desenvolupament” award from the Universitat de València. In 2024, I was awarded the Spanish National Research Prize in the Santiago Ramón y Cajal category (Biology), and in 2025 I received the Honorary Plaque of the Spanish Association of Scientists, as well as honorary membership of the Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

I have served and continue to serve on numerous scientific committees, including external advisory boards of several research institutes (DECXS-UPF, as Chair since 2010; IIS Hospital Ramón y Cajal (IRYCIS) 2013–2019; Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience since 2013; FINBA–Principality of Asturias 2013–2018; Instituto Cajal 2015–2020; CIMUS-USC since 2015; CMRB since 2016; IMIM since 2019; IBiS since 2020; Hospital de la Princesa since 2020; GENYO since 2021; IBMB 2020–2024; IUBM 2021–2024; IBGM 2023–2024; Alicante Institute of Neurosciences 2023–2024; NeuroUB since 2025). I am currently a member of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the CSIC and of the Scientific and Technical Council of the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI). In addition, I serve on the jury of the Banco Sabadell Foundation Award for Biomedical Research and the For Women in Science Award (L’Oréal–UNESCO program), and I am a trustee of the Carmen and Severo Ochoa Foundation and of the Príncipe Felipe Research Center. From 2018 to 2024, I served as Chair of the Biosciences and Biotechnology area of the AEI.

I have also carried out an extensive teaching activity. I chaired the committee responsible for the creation of the Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences (2008–2014) and participated in the committee that established the Master’s degree in R&D in Biotechnology and Biomedicine (2016–2018), in addition to serving on the committee of the PhD Program in Neurosciences (2006–2016) at the UV. Numerous young researchers have been trained in my laboratory: I have supervised more than twenty doctoral theses and mentored over twenty postdoctoral researchers. In terms of science outreach, I regularly participate in talks at secondary schools, lectures within the UV’s Unisocietat outreach program, and I have given a TEDx talk.