Dr. Carlos Matute elected president of the Spanish Society of Neurosciences
Dr. Carlos Matute Almau, professor of Anatomy and Embryology at the UPV/EHU and founding Scientific Director of ACHUCARRO has been elected president of the Spanish Society of Neurosciences (SENC), an entity created 45 years ago and which currently has nearly a thousand members.
The main objectives of this scientific society are to promote the development of knowledge in the field of Neuroscience, bringing together scientists from different disciplines and facilitating the integration of research aimed at all levels of organisation of the nervous system, to promote relations with national and international counterpart societies and organisations and to inform public opinion about the results and implications of ongoing research in the fields of Neuroscience.
“My election as president of the SENC highlights the strength of Neuroscience research in the Basque Country, with two world-leading centres (Achucarro and BCBL), and with the UPV/EHU as the backbone articulating and leading this field of Biomedical Research. During my mandate I will work to bring the SENC Biennial International Congress of the SENC to the Basque Country in 2025, and the Cajal Conference in 2024. I will promote the training of new generations of neuroscientists and fight to dignify their salaries; I will foster international relations with our neighbouring countries; I will work with public administrations to promote research as a tool for economic and social progress; I will facilitate the dissemination and communication to society of the importance of Neurosciences for the knowledge of the brain and the cure of neurological and psychiatric diseases, as well as the improvement of the quality of life of the population”.
Carlos Matute (Zaragoza, 1956) graduated from the University of Zaragoza, where he did a PhD in chemical neuroanatomy of the visual system. He then did a postdoctoral stay at the Brain Research Institute of the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and, later, at the University of California, Irvine (USA). After his return, in 1988, he set up the Neurobiology Laboratory in the Faculty of Medicine and Nursing at the University of the Basque Country. He is currently Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the aforementioned university. He is also an elected member of the Academia Europaea, the European Association of Neuroscience, the Spanish Society of Neuroscience and the American Society of Neuroscience. He was founder and scientific director of the Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience from 2012 to 2020. Professor Matute has made more than 250 international publications, nearly 160 presentations at international meetings, holds 14 patents, is a reviewer of around 40 international scientific journals and a member of the Editorial Board of four of them.
The main lines of research of the new president of the SENC are the study of oligodendrocytes and cerebral myelin, and their impact on energy metabolism in the healthy and ageing nervous system, as well as in multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.
