Raquel A. Martinez Garcia de la Torre

Role: Postdoc (Ramon Areces fellowship)

Nationality: Spanish

After finishing my BSc in Biomedicine from the University of Barcelona, I did a Master’s degree in Translational Research Medicine at the same institution. During this time, I began working with stem cells and I started to realize the importance of developing physiologically relevant in vitro human models to study tissue physiology and disease. Following a brief period outside academia, I was awarded a fellowship from Instituto Carlos III to do my PhD at IDIBAPS, University of Barcelona, under the supervision of Dr. Pau Sancho-Bru. My doctoral research focused on using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and liver organoids to investigate liver cell plasticity and the mechanisms underlying liver fibrosis, a hallmark of all chronic liver diseases, characterized by abnormal ECM production that ultimately leads to liver insufficiency.

I recently joined Prof. Spagnoli’s lab as a postdoctoral researcher, where I explore how the pancreatic microenvironment, particularly ECM proteins, influences cellular identity during development and disease, with a specific focus on diabetes.