User:Mpc2 flox/Juan Pedro Bolaños

Juan Pedro Bolaños Hernández (Santa María de Guía, Las Palmas, 18 de abril de 1964) is an Spanish pharmacologist and researcher. He is currently Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Salamanca.

Biography and academic career
He was born in a family of pharmacists. Since he was very young, he helped his father at his clinical analysis laboratory. There his passion for chemistry applied to biology started.

He studied Pharmacy at the University of Salamanca, where he graduated in 1987. In 1992 he defended his doctoral thesis directed by Dr. José María Medina Jiménez, on the metabolism of valproic acid on the central nervous system. From 1993-1994 he conducted research at the Neurology Institute (University College London) with a Marie Curie fellowship. In 1995 he comes back to the University of Salamanca to fund his own research group, becoming Associate Professor of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology department in 1996. Since 2007, he is Professor of the same department.

He has been implicated in teaching activities for the past 20 years. He has supervised more than 60 international students and has tutored 15 doctoral thesis (3 of which with European distinction). His research group, localized at the Institute of Functional Biology and Genomics (mixed center between the University of Salamanca and the Spanish National Research Council), has been awarded as Excellence Group in Castile and León. His work has been recognized with the Award Castile and León of Scientific and Technic Research and Innovation, which is the maximum award in the region. He has also awarded the Marie Curie Excellence Award from the European Commission. He has been recognized 4 years in a row as the editor of the year of Biochemical Journal. His research has been endorsed by numerous institutions from Spain (MINECO, CIBER, JCyL, etc.) as well as international (FEDER, FP7, H2020, NIH, etc.). He has published more than 150 papers in high impact journals such as Nature, Nature Communications, Cell Metabolism, PNAS. He is on the list of the Stanford University as one of the most cited scientist in the world.

He is editor in 6 international journals and is part of the panel of reviewers of international organizations such as Human Frontier Program Organization, FWO, Wellcome Trust, Parkinson’s UK, Michael J. Fox Foundation, among others; and journals such as Science, PNAS, Nature Communications, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Cell Metabolism. He has been the president of the European Society for Neurochemistry (ESN). He is member of the European Society for Neurochemistry (ESN), the International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN) and consul of the Sociedad Española de Biología y Bioquímica Molecular (SEBBM).

His research is focused on the understanding of the molecular mechanisms that regulate the metabolism and redox homeostasis in the cells of the central nervous system. Particularly, in the study of the proteins and signaling pathways responsible of the adaptation of the neuronal metabolism to the high energetic and antioxidant demand imposed by neurotransmission. His goal, beyond the advancement of knowledge, is to identify metabolic targets and genetic alterations that contribute to the malfunctioning of neurotransmission and drive to neurological disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases, and also impact ageing.

Distinctions

 * Marie Curie Excellence Award (2005)
 * María de Maeztu to Scientific Excellence Award (2019)
 * Award Castile and León of Scientific and Technic Research and Innovation (2021)