91Ó°ÊÓ

Dr Marta Dominguez-Prieto

Job: Lecturer in Pharmacology

Faculty: Health and Life Sciences

School/department: Leicester School of Pharmacy

Address: De 91Ó°ÊÓ University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH

T: N/A

E: marta.dominguez-prieto@dmu.ac.uk

 

Personal profile

I’m a Lecturer in Pharmacology in the Leicester School of Pharmacy since 2023.

I have a strong background in neurodegeneration as my research has focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. My PhD at INCYL (Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, University of Salamanca, Spain) explored the effects of Alzheimer's amyloid-beta on neurons and astrocytes, highlighting the protective role of human serum albumin.

In 2020, I joined 91Ó°ÊÓ as Research Fellow to work with Prof Nicoleta Moisoi in the study of the role of mitochondrial quality control systems in Parkinson’s disease, trying to find new druggable pathways.

I’m passionate about outreach and public engagement and collaborate actively with SRUK/CERU, the Society of Spanish Researchers in the UK, to bring science closer to the general public. In this sense, I’ve participated in the organization of events such as a travelling exhibition on the art and legacy of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the father of modern neuroscience, the Brain Awareness Week (BAW) or two Science Communication Symposiums in Manchester.

Research group affiliations

Leicester Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation for Integrated Care (LIPIIC)

Publications and outputs

  • Temelie M, Talpur R, Dominguez-Prieto M, Dantas Silva A, Cenusa C, Craciun L, Savu DI, Moisoi N. Impaired Integrated Stress Response and Mitochondrial Integrity Modulate Genotoxic Stress Impact and Lower the Threshold for Immune Signalling. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Mar 20;24(6):5891. doi: 10.3390/ijms24065891.
  • Jaraíz-Rodríguez M, Talaverón R, García-Vicente L, Pelaz SG, Domínguez-Prieto M, Álvarez-Vázquez A, Flores-Hernández R, Sin WC, Bechberger J, Medina JM, Naus CC, Tabernero A. Connexin43 peptide, TAT-Cx43266-283, selectively targets glioma cells, impairs malignant growth, and enhances survival in mouse models in vivo. Neuro Oncol. 2020 Apr 15;22(4):493-504. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/noz243. Erratum in: Neuro Oncol. 2021 Aug 2;23(8):1414. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/noaa087.
  • Domínguez-Prieto M, Velasco A, Tabernero A, Medina JM. Endocytosis and Transcytosis of Amyloid-β Peptides by Astrocytes: A Possible Mechanism for Amyloid-β Clearance in Alzheimer's Disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2018;65(4):1109-1124. doi: 10.3233/JAD-180332.
  • Domínguez-Prieto M, Velasco A, Vega L, Tabernero A, Medina JM. Aberrant Co-localization of Synaptic Proteins Promoted by Alzheimer's Disease Amyloid-β Peptides: Protective Effect of Human Serum Albumin. J Alzheimers Dis. 2017;55(1):171-182. doi: 10.3233/JAD-160346. 

Research interests/expertise

  • Mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases
  • Parkinson’s Disease
  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Rare diseases

Areas of teaching

  • Pharmacology
  • Neuroscience

Qualifications

  • PhD in Neuroscience
  • MSc in Neuroscience
  • MSc in Biology

Courses taught

Pharmacy MPharm, Pharmaceutical Biotechnology MSc

Honours and awards

  • SRUK/CERU Mentor Recognition Award (June 2024) – for being an outstanding mentor in the SRUK/CERU Mentoring Programme 2023/2024.
  • Photography award in the category Originality and artistic character in the 4th SRUK/CERU Photography Competition “Investigación En foco”, June 2024.

Membership of external committees

  • Member of the SRUK/CERU Executive Committee since October 2023. SRUK/CERU is the Society of Spanish Researchers in the UK. Founded in 2011, this Society has as main objective creating a social network of researchers and students, while acting as Science Communicators, Science Mediators and Science Representatives. Elected as Director of the Midlands Constituency in 2023.
  • Member of the ARUK (Alzheimer’s Research UK) Midlands Network Centre since 2022.
  • Member of the Quality Commission of the Neuroscience PhD Programme of the University of Salamanca (USAL), as internal member 2017-2020, as external member from 2020 and ongoing. 

Membership of professional associations and societies

  • SRUK/CERU (Society of Spanish Researchers in the UK) – 2020
  • RAICEX (Association of Societies of Spanish Researchers Abroad) – 2020
  • CONNECTS-UK (collaborative platform created in 2022 by the scientific diasporas of Finland, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, The Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain in the UK, together with Native Scientists and financially supported by the European Commission) – 2022
  • Blue Zone Consortium (now rebranded as UK Healthy Ageing Innovation Consortium (UKHAIC)) – 2024
  • Biochemical Society – 2023
  • SEBBM (Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) – 2012
  • UK Glia Network - 2024

Conference attendance

  • 06/2024. M Dominguez-Prieto, Y Passos, N Moisoi. “Unravelling the neuroprotective role of mitochondrial quality control in LUHMES, a dopaminergic model of Parkinson’s disease.” FENS Forum 2024, Vienna, Austria. Poster, presenter.
  • 05/2024. M Dominguez-Prieto, N Moisoi, F Brucoli. “Novel fluorescent imaging and theranostic probes targeting mitochondria”. Chemical biology symposium 2023, Royal Society of Chemistry, London, UK. Poster, co-author.
  • 04/2023. M Dominguez-Prieto, Y Moraes Passos, N Moisoi. “Addressing mitochondrial phenotypes and quality control in LUHMES, a dopaminergic model of Parkinson’s disease”. Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Neurodegeneration 2023, Biochemical Society, Nottingham, UK. Oral communication, presenter.
  • 07/2022. M Domínguez-Prieto. “Endocytosis and transcytosis of Alzheimer amyloid-beta peptides by astrocytes. A possible mechanism for amyloid-beta clearance”. IX International Symposium SRUK/CERU, Oxford, UK. Oral communication, presenter.

Current research students

  • Mia Simons-Weston (2nd supervisor)
  • Niloufar Khoshkhabar (1st supervisor)

ORCID number