José Prius Mengual

I am an Early Career Fellow Researcher in sleep neurobiology and epilepsy. My current project tries to shed light on the molecular mechanisms of genetic forms of epilepsy and how they relate to sleep at the molecular level, focusing on cellular stress genes. The types of epilepsy I study currently lack therapies in humans, and surprisingly little is known about their mechanisms of action. It is well known that there is a strong bi-directional relationship between sleep and epilepsy. This presents a great opportunity to investigate the intricacies of epilepsy and homeostatic sleep and how they interact with each other at a molecular level. This may potentially lead to the development of therapeutic strategies for improving the lives of the many people affected by these conditions.

In my previous research, I investigated the role sleep plays in cognitive function and how disrupted sleep has been linked to a broad range of neurological, neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. In particular, I looked at the role of cellular stress in the modulation of sleep need and synaptic activity. To address this, I combined in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology with a broad range of molecular techniques in animal models. 

I received a BSc in Biochemistry and a MSc in Biotechnology from the University of Córdoba. During my PhD at the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Molecular Biology, University Pablo de Olavide; I looked at the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in changes in synaptic plasticity during neurodevelopment.