Marta González-Sepúlveda, PhD

Last years I have worked as a post-doctoral researcher in the neurosciences field while working as a university professor. I started my scientific career in the Biochemical Psychopharmacology research group (UAB) studying drug addiction, especially how cocaine intake can alter the expression of the H3 receptor and how the modulation of the histamine H3 receptor can influence the cocaine self-administration behavior in rats. Then, I moved to the research group of Neurobiology of Behavior (UPF) and focused my studies in the pain-depression dyad and how chronic neuropathic pain-induced mood disorders can lead to an increased alcohol intake in mice. Currently, I belong to the Neurodegenerative Diseases research group (VHIR) and investigate the involvement of neuromelanin in the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons during Parkinson’s disease. I developed and validated a UPLC-MS/MS method to monitor possible alterations in neurotransmitter and o-quinone levels that can be applied to both in vitro and in vivo experimental models of neurological disorders and human brain samples. This methodology is currently applied to the research project: “Modulation of age-dependent neuromelanin accumulation as a novel therapeutic strategy for Parkinson’s disease and brain aging”.

ORCID: 0000-0002-5627-847X