The lab in September 2023
Isabel Almudí
Group leader
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I am a Beatriz Galindo researcher at the Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics Department at the University of Barcelona. My research interests focus on the developmental processes that control animal morphology and how they evolved to give rise to the huge diversity of animals and their sensory and ecological adaptations.
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Antoni Ruiz
Lab manager and technician
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I am a Biologist with a Masters in Zoology interested in animal diversity. In the lab, I assist with the experimental work and the animal culture. I am also involved in project administration.
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Maria Rosselló
Margarita Salas Postdoctoral researcher
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I am fascinated by how different gene programs can define features in a single organism and between species. During my PhD I studied the role of the hippo pathway in cell cycle, cell differentiation, apoptosis and the formation of overgrowths in planarians. Currently, I am applying my experience in developmental biology and Bioinformatics to unveil the genetic basis of morphological novelties in mayflies.
Rafath Chowdhury
Postdoctoral researcher
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I am passionate about the field of EvoDevo. During my thesis I studied the establishment of epidermal sensory neurons in invertebrate chordates. During this postdoc, I will study how morphological novelties arise in mayflies using my knowledge of molecular and developmental biology.
Sophie Tandonnet
Postdoctoral researcher
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I am an evolutionary biologist captivated by the processes underlying the evolution of complex traits. My research journey has taken me from unraveling the mysteries of sex determination in a unique nematode (PhD) to exploring the evolution of parasitism in blowflies (post-doc). Currently, I'm delving into the fascinating world of mayflies, exploring how the genome of Cloeon dipterum (and its expression) orchestrates the emergence of remarkable features such as wings and the sexually dimorphic visual system.
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Carlos A. Martín-Blanco
PhD student (co-supervised with Prof. Fernando Casares at CABD)
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I am interested in understanding the genetic mechanisms of growth control during development and regeneration and its evolutionary implications. For this reason, I started my PhD investigating these questions using the mayfly C. dipterum, which has great regenerative capabilities as a model system.
Tòt Senar
PhD student
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I always wondered how animals perceive their external environment and how visual capabilities evolved in the different animal lineages. In the mayflyecoevodevo lab, I am investigating these questions using the mayfly C. dipterum and its extraordinary visual systems.
Laia Ortega
MSc student
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I am interested in understanding how new organs and body plans are established. For my master thesis, I am investigating the gene regulatory networks controlling embryogenesis in the mayfly C. dipterum.
Alumni
Can be contacted for references
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Giulio Masiero
Giulio joined the mayfly team last year to perform his Master Thesis from the University of Trieste, in Italy
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Ana Alcaina
Ana worked on her Master thesis “Comparative and genetic study to test the hypothesis of the pleural gill origin of the insect wing” with us. Currently, she is a PhD student at the López-Ríos laboratory at the CABD
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Javier Figueras
He did his Master Project on “Mechanisms of organ size variation: differential gene expression analysis during the development of two fly eyes of very different sizes”. Afterwards he moved to the laboratory of Prof Alistair P. McGregor in Oxford Brookes University to pursue his PhD
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Adrián López-Catalina
He joined the laboratory to perform his Final Degree Project investigating wing development in mayflies. He is currently a PhD student at the IRTA-CSIC
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Isabel M. García-Fernández
She performed her Research Project investigating eye development in mayflies.
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