Miguel Ángel Lafarga Coscojuela

Miguel Lafarga Coscojuela is Professor Emeritus at University of Cantabria (UC) since October 1, 2016. From 1975 to 2016, he was Professor of Cell Biology and Histology, at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Cantabria (UC), Santander, Spain. From 2001 to 2013, Dr. Lafarga was Chairman of Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, UC. Research activity: The main line of investigation of his research team has been focused on the structure and function of the cell nucleus, particularly in neuronal models and tumor cells. We are interested in the structural, molecular and functional organization of nuclear compartments involved in pre-mRNA and pre-rRNA processing, such as Cajal bodies, nuclear speckles, euchromatin and nucleolus, as well as in the nuclear compartimentalization of DNA damage/repair response in neurons. We use murine models of cerebellar ataxia (the pcd mutant mice) and motor neuron disease, including spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), treatments with ionizing radiations to induce neuronal DNA damage in rats, and celular models of cancer cells. Under his tutelage, 19 Doctoral Theses have been performed. Dr. Lafarga has participated in 15 National and European competitive research projects. Author or co-author of 156 papers indexed in PubMed (accessed on August 31, 2017) with and "h" index of 33 (Web Science, accessed on August 31, 2017).