Degree: Biological Sciences, Biochemistry by Universidad de Sevilla, June 1988. Ph.D program: PhD thesis with Prof. Sonsoles Campuzano at Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa CSIC-UAM between January 1989 and March 1993. Doctorate in Biological Sciences by Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in April 1993. Posdoctoral Positions: Laboratory of Prof. Ernst Hafen in the Department of Zoology, at theUniversitaet of Zuerich, Switzerland. From September 1993 to December 1996. Laboratory of Prof. Peter A. Lawrence in the Department of Cell Biology at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology en Cambridge, UK. From January 1997 to December 1999. Previous positions: Científico Titular interine from January 2000 to July 2000. Current Position: Profesor de Investigación del CSIC.

Research Fields: Growth is a central aspect of the early development of all organs including the nervous system, determining the final size and shape of each organ. When growth control goes awry cancer can develop. We make use of the developing eye of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster to study the mechanism(s) of tissue/organ growth control and cancer. Understanding these mechanisms relies on the identification of genes involved and elucidating how do they operate in vivo and how and why specific genes cooperate to promote tumorigenesis. Clinical evidence suggests an important role of the developmental Notch pathway in the initiation and progression of various human malignancies. Previously, others and we have unveiled a critical Notch-mediated mechanism of growth control of the Drosophila eye. With the aim to indentify new cancer risk genes that both interact with Notch and promote tumours in vivo, we have conducted a high-throughput gain-of-expression genetic screen in the Drosophila eye. Given the conservation on the mechanisms of growth control in metazoans, the identification and in vivo functional characterization of these genes allows us to uncover new principles of growth regulation and cancer with direct relevance in organisms more complex than Drosophila.