Professor Marisol Fernandez-Alfonso

 Education:

Degree in Pharmacy (1986) and PhD (1990) from the  Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Place of Employment:

(Department of Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy and Botanics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Current Research or area of work:

Her research has been dedicated to the study of different aspects related to the pathophysiology and pharmacology of the vascular wall. In recent years, her interest has focused on characterizing the mechanisms involved in the relationship between obesity and vascular damage, with special attention to the role of perivascular adipose tissue in the regulation of vascular tone and hypertension. Her main lines of research are to define molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in the development of vascular alterations associated to obesity and microalbuminuria, and to develop dietetic and pharmacotherapeutic strategies aimed at their prevention / treatment.

Leadership Roles:

Director of the Group for the Study of Cardiometabolic Health (GESCAMET). Member of the Executive Committee of the European Council for Cardiovascular Research (ECCR, 2018-now and 2007-2011), and of the ISH Women in Hypertension Research Committee (2018-now). Pieter van Zwieten Award 2019.

Reason for joining ECCR:

I started to attend the meeting 20 years ago. It was, and still is, a small meeting with around 100 to 150 people which aims to gather excellent and independent researchers from Europe focussed on hypertension and cardiovascular research. I felt that it was a very good opportunity for young investigators to present their work in a friendly forum of excellence and start networking. Since then, attending ECCR meeting has been always my priority.

Joining the Committee gives me the opportunity to support ECCR activities, include new points of view and ideas and to represent and engage the Spanish community of young cardiovascular researchers.