Members

Group Leader

Manuel Guzmán

Manuel Guzmán took his BSc (1986) and PhD (1990) in Biology from Madrid Complutense University. He is presently Full Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at that university. His PhD and postdoctoral research focused on the study of the regulation of liver and brain lipid metabolism. Since the late 1990s he has been mostly involved in the study of how the active components of cannabis (the cannabinoids) act in the body, with especial emphasis on the molecular mechanisms of that action and on understanding how cannabinoids control cell generation and death. This work has allowed characterizing new effects and signalling pathways evoked by cannabinoids, as well as putting forward new physiopathological implications derived from them.

 Seniors Researches

 

José Ignacio Rodríguez Crespo;

   

Nacho graduated from the UCM in 1990 and defended his thesis in December 1994, which focused on the surface antigen of the Hepatitis B virus. In January 1995, he began his postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco, in the group of Paul Ortiz de Montellano, where he worked for almost three and a half years on the characterization of Nitric Oxide Synthases. Upon his return to Madrid, he began a new line of research on protein acylation. He held a Ramón y Cajal contract until December 2007. At the Complutense University of Madrid, he has been Associate Professor since 2010 and Full Professor since 2020.

Cristina Blázquez 

   

Cristina studied Biology at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (1992-1997; Special Award). She obtained her PhD (Special Award) in 2001 working at the laboratory of Dr. Manuel Guzmán. Her PhD project was based on the regulation of ketogenesis in astrocytes. Later on, Cistina moved to Oxford University for a postdoctoral stay at the laboratory of Dr. Francesco Pezzella, where she focused on the study of the sub-cellular localization of VEGF receptor-2 in tumour cells. Subsequently she was awarded with a postdoctoral fellowship from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia at Dr. Manuel Guzmán´s laboratory to study the action of cannabinoids as anticancer agents. In 2004, she got an Assistant Professor position at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and later on, an Associate Professor position at the same department. In 2011 she became a Titular Professor, position that she currently holds.

 

Postdoctoral Researchers

Alba Hermoso

Alba graduated from Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2018 with a degree in Biology. Her final degree project was carried out in the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital in Madrid, focusing on the use of the CRISPR-Cas9 tool to correct genetic anomaly in Friedreich’s Ataxia. She completed her master´s degree in biochemistry, molecular biology and biomedicine (2019). Her final master´s project was based on the antisense oligonucleotides activity to reduce the levels of the APP protein in Alzheimer’s disease. Following that, she joined our group to work on her PhD project, in which she is currently investigating new interactors of the CB₁ receptor.

Predoctoral Researchers

Alicia Álvaro

Alicia graduated in Biochemistry at Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2020. Then she did her master´s degree in Neuroscience at the same university. During this period she joined our group to perform her final master´s project. Currently she is doing her PhD project, focused on the study of the role of ubiquitination in CB₁ receptor function.

Guillermo Martín Migallón

Guillermo graduated in Biochemistry from Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2021. The following year, he pursued a master’s degree in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biomedicine at the same university. For his Bachelor´s and Master´s final projects, he joined our group and studied the phosphorylation of CB1 cannabinoid receptor and its interaction with beta-arrestins. After that, he continued in our group to carry out his PhD project with an FPU contract, further characterizing the post-translational modifications of CB1 receptor.

Ignacio Álvarez Calles

Ignacio graduated from Biochemistry in the Complutense University of Madrid in 2022. His Final Degree Thesis studied mechanisms of resistance to HIV infection, done in the School of Pharmacy of the Complutense University of Madrid. He joined the group during his Master’s in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedicine of the Complutense University of Madrid, in the class of 2022-2023. For his Master’s Thesis he characterized the interaction of CB1 with beta-arrestins. After finishing his Master’s and collaborating as a Research Assistant, he began his PhD in October 2023 with a UCM predoctoral contract, aiming to study the effect of CB1 glycosylation on its function

 

Lab Manager and Project Manager

Eva Resel

Eva graduated in Biology from the Complutense University of Madrid in 2003. In January 2007 she joined the laboratory with a contract from the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED). Currently, Eva is the Lab Manager and runs the research projects of the cannabinoid signaling group, but during the first 10 years she also worked as a research technician in Manuel Guzman’s group.