Neurology and Experimental Neurobiology (NE)

Principal Investigator

Manuel Rodríguez Díaz, PhD

(University Professor; Department of Basic Medical Sciences, ULL)

PhD researchers

Collaborating researchers (PhDs)

  • Ruth Rubio Amador, PhD
  • Clara Rodríguez Sabaté, PhD
  • Alberto Sánchez Fernández, PhD

PhD students and researchers in training

  • Miguel Sabater Bell (Doctoral Program in Health Sciences, ULL)
  • Rafael Jesús Pinilla Zuleta (Doctoral Program in Health Sciences, ULL)

Lines of research

  • Role of astrocytes in dopaminergic neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease
  • Mitochondrial involvement in dopaminergic neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease: new therapeutic strategies.
  • Astrocyte transplantation as a therapy for Parkinson's disease.
  • Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation as a therapy for Parkinson's disease.

Funded projects

  • Astrocytes in Parkinson's disease: a new therapeutic opportunity (PI2021/02). PI: Manuel Rodríguez Díaz. Biomedical Research Networking Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, CIBERNED (2022-2023, €66,000)
  • Scientific Advice and Direction of the DEGEN Institute. PI: Manuel Rodríguez Díaz. Spanish Foundation for Research Aid in Neurodegenerative and/or Genetic Diseases (2023, €20,000)

Other representative publications from recent years

  • Rodriguez-Sabate C, Morales I, Rodriguez M. The Influence of Aging on the Functional Connectivity of the Human Basal Ganglia. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. 2022 Jan:13:785666. DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.785666
  • Morales I, Puertas-Avendaño R, Sanchez A, Perez-Barreto A, Rodriguez-Sabate C, Rodriguez M. Astrocytes and retrograde degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease: removing axonal debris. Translational Neurodegeneration. 2021 Nov 2;10(1):43. DOI: 10.1186/s40035-021-00262-1
  • Morales I, Sanchez A, Puertas-Avendaño R, Rodriguez-Sabate C, Perez-Barreto A, Rodriguez M. Neuroglial transmitophagy and Parkinson's disease. GLIA. 2020 Nov;68(11):2277-2299. DOI: 10.1002/glia.23839
  • Rodriguez-Sabate C, Morales I, Monton F, Rodriguez M. The influence of Parkinson's disease on the functional connectivity of the motor loop of human basal ganglia. Parkinsonism and Related Disorders. 2019 Jun:63:100-105. DOI: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2019.02.031
  • Morales I, Sanchez A, Rodriguez-Sabate C, Rodriguez M. Striatal astrocytes engulf dopaminergic debris in Parkinson's disease: A study in an animal model. PLoS ONE. 2017 Oct 13;12(10):e0185989. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185989