EMBO promotes excellence in scientific research, and one of its major goals is to support talented researchers at all stages of their careers
Dr. Miguel Torres, a group leader at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), has been elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). EMBO today named the 56 new members who will form part of this organization of more than 1800 leading scientists from Europe and around the world.
EMBO Director Maria Leptin explained that “EMBO members are expert scientists who carry out pioneering research across all disciplines in the life sciences, from computer models or analysis of individual molecules and cell mechanisms to the study of higher-level systems in development, cognitive neuroscience, and evolution.”
Dr. Miguel Torres’s scientific research focuses on the regulation of embryonic development and the formation and regeneration of organs. His major contributions include the understanding of how gene activities regulate regionalization processes in the developing embryo and the discovery of mechanisms involved in quality control and organ regeneration.
Dr. Torres formed his group at the CNB-CSIC in Madrid in 1996, where he developed his research into vertebrate organ formation, including projects investigating the limbs and the heart. A major focus of his work on organogenesis is homeodomain genes, and his research in this area has contributed to the understanding of the molecular interactions that regulate the correct formation of distinct regions in the embryo.
Dr. Miguel Torres’s research centers on understanding the regulation of embryonic development and the formation and regeneration of organs.
In the field of tissue homeostasis, his work has contributed to understanding the conservation of cell death pathways in the animal kingdom and has demonstrated the physiological relevance of ‘cell competition’ in mammals. His contributions in this area demonstrate the importance of cell competition in maintaining pluripotency in early embryonic development and its possible role in cardiac regeneration.
In the last ten years, his research has extended to the investigation of how tissue morphogenesis and homeostasis are determined by cell behaviour. This line of research has involved the introduction of new techniques, including new genetic and methodological tools for 3-dimensional microscopy of the developing embryo. Dr. Torres described how his group’s work has “established the first technique for the in vivo microscopy of the developing heart in mouse embryos, and this has enabled us to propose a new model of the formation of the heart
