Carlota Recio Cruz studied in Badajoz schools -Puertapalma and Maristas -practiced swimming, played handball and represented the region as a tennis player.
Then he began at the University of Extremadura his biology career, a vocation that woke up when birds began to ring with his professor at Alfonso Marzal School.
His file began to stand out and thanks to a Seneca scholarship he held the last two courses at the Autonomous University.On February 19 he read his thesis and dazzled experts.
This young Extremadura has just been hired at the prestigious British University of Oxford to work as a doctor at Sir William Dunn School of Pathology in a diabetes and immunometabolism project.
His march has to do with research on diabetes, a very common disease in today's society.The defense of his study on the therapeutic potential of a protein that can help in the complications of this disease deserved the Cum Laude qualification on February 19.
This is a thesis directed and protected by Jesús Egido de los Ríos and Carmen Gómez, specialists in nephrology, and whose results have already collected the 'Journal of the American Society of Nephrology' (Journal of the American Society of Nephrology), among othersrelevant scientific publications.
Carlota Recio is now 28 years old.He explains that he opted for diabetes mellitus for being a disease of great prevalence among the world's population that triggers a series of chronic complications in patients, which leads to a deterioration of their quality of life.
«Among these complications, atherosclerosis (formation of plaques in the arteries) and nephropathy constitute the main cause of morbidity and mortality and chronic renal disease in diabetic patients, since there are currently no therapeutic alternatives that effectively stop the appearance of cardiovascular episodes or theProgression to kidney failure, ”says the expert.
"In Spain there are very good and prepared people at the scientific level, but the amount for projects and staff is a misery"
Biology began at the University of Extremadura and ended in the autonomous of Madrid
Based on this, he proceeds - there was a need to look for therapeutic alternatives, as mechanisms or signaling pathways involved in the regulation of mediators who participate in the development of damage during diabetes and their complications.
Thus, its study has focused on the role of socio proteins (acronym in English protein proteins of cytokine signaling), a family of eight proteins that regulateTissue damage.
success in mice
Specifically, the studies of this Extremadura have focused on designing a peptide (type of molecules formed by the union of several synthetic) synthetic that mimics the regulatory action of the socS1 protein.
It has already been successfully tested in mice, suppressing inflammation and delaying vascular and renal damage to diabetics.«This provides us with the basis for the development of new therapies against the inflammatory complications of diabetes (...).
The importance of the results is that they join the enormous amount of studies in progress worldwide that try to address this disease that occurs so frequently, since according to the World Health Organization, in 2014 there were 380 million ofDiabetics in the world, and it is estimated that in 2030 one in ten people will be diabetic », summarizes Carlota Recio recently arrived in Oxford.
more resources
In the opinion of this Extremadura, to stand out in a professional career it is essential to leave Spain,country that does not rule out returning in several years.«Once the thesis is over, I could have opted for the postdoctoral contracts offered by both the Ministry and the Carlos III Health Institute, so it would have had an option to remain there.
However, these contracts have a duration of 2 or 3 years, after which we must compete for the following contracts.The point is that there comes a time when only the best manage to stabilize as researchers in Spain and have the option of forming their own group.And only those who have developed part of their research career abroad get it ».
At the moment, as a scientist he takes advantage of his stay in Oxford some resources and infrastructure that he considers much higher.«It is a shame, because in Spain there are very very good people and very prepared at the scientific level.However, the amount intended for projects and, especially to staff, is a misery ».As for the destiny he enjoys now, Recio values that everything in this British town revolves around the university."This is great because it establishes links and collaboration with people from many sites."
