Jesus Alarcon Gil

My main research interest lies in physiological and pathological cellular neurobiology, employing experimental and bioinformatics approaches. Specifically, my research focuses on cellular processes such as mitochondrial functionality and dynamics, autophagy, lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, and intercellular communication.

My research experience began at the Spanish Scientific Research Council in 2017, exploring the protective effects and mechanisms of action of some unsaturated fatty acids in Parkinson's Disease models. Later, I accomplished an Erasmus+ internship at the Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, developing a pipeline to integrate tracer-based metabolomics data into genome-scale models. In 2020, I started a PhD in Neuroscience at the Ramón y Cajal Institute, studying the cellular effects of astrocyte-derived small extracellular vesicles in in vitro brain aging models. After completing an MSc in Bioinformatics and Biostatistics in 2023 and earning my PhD in 2024, I started postdoctoral studies in Prof. Maria Ankarcrona's laboratory at the Karolinska Institute under the supervision of Asst. Prof. Luana Naia

Our core research focuses on the acquisition and bioinformatic analysis of different features and dynamics of the astroglial mitochondrial network in 3D mouse and human models under physiological and Alzheimer's disease conditions. Our goal is to enhance the acquisition of different innovative reporters of the mitochondrial network by 3D live imaging in organotypic cultures of mouse hippocampal slices and human hippocampal organoids. Additionally, we aim to develop different pipelines, tools, and deep learning models to extract multiple features, dynamics, and phenotypes of the mitochondrial network from the 3D live imaging data of the mitochondrial network.