Mara Dierssen

With a PhD in Neurobiology from the University of Cantabria, she is research director at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona. Her main area of research is inquiring into how the brain brings about the specific behaviour of each individual. In particular, she has specialised in Down syndrome, a field in which she has produced trailblazing internationally recognised research into the genetic bases of intellectual impairment. Moreover, her work in the therapeutic area has led to improvements in cognitive performance for people with Down syndrome. She has received numerous awards during her career as a researcher, notable among them the 2008 National Prize for Thought and Scientific Culture (Generalitat (Government) of Catalonia), and two “Jaime Blanco” prizes for her research into Down syndrome. She has also received other honours for her work of promoting scientific knowledge through lectures and publications like El cerebro artístico. La creatividad desde la neurociencia (The Artistic Brain: Creativity from Neuroscience, EMSE, 2016). She belongs to, and has been president of the Spanish Society of Neuroscience (2013-2015), and is also a member of the learned society Academia Europaea, which brings together leading scientists and university professors from around Europe.