The second conference of Santander Biomedical Lectures Program organized by IDIVAL, the University of Cantabria and the IBBTEC will take place on the 23rd of February. The conference will be given by Dr. Javier González-Maeso, Associate Professor from the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.
Javier González Maeso obtained his M.Sc. in Microbiology and Immunology and his M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao – Spain, where as a Ph.D. student in the Department of Pharmacology under the mentorship of Dr. Javier Meana his research interest was focused on neurotransmitter receptor function. He completed his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Stuart Sealfon at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, where he proposed a molecular mechanism by which hallucinogenic drugs induce their unique behavioral effects in mouse models. Dr. González Maeso joined the faculty at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 2008. He joined the Virginia Commonwealth University faculty in 2015.
Department of Physiology and Biophysics Dr. González – Maeso
Dr. González-Maeso’s Lab is interested in the structure, function and regulation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), their interacting proteins, and psychiatric disease associations such as schizophrenia, suicide and alcoholism. In addition, the laboratory aims to understand the molecular, cellular and neural circuit mechanisms by which environmental factors and chronic drug exposure alter behavior. Our research is based on the combination of interdisciplinary approaches ranging from computer structural modeling and molecular pharmacology in tissue culture to neurochemistry, epigenetics, mouse behavioral assays relevant psychiatric disorders, and functional testing in postmortem human brain. Ultimately, our goal is to use this basic knowledge to develop new approaches for treatment and prevention of psychiatric disorders.
Our main goal is to explore the structure, function and regulation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), translating this basic knowledge into novel strategies to treat psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, suicide and alcoholism.
The conference will be open to the general public and it will take place at Marques de Valdecilla University Hospital, Salon Tellez (Pavilion 16) at 8.15am.
Dr. González-Maeso will be in Santander throughout the day, to exchange experiences with members of the scientific and clinical community. Furthermore, He will visit the Research centers of our community to talk with all the interested scientists.
Those professionals who would like to meet with Dr. González-Maeso during his stay can contact with the department at gesval1@idival.org.
