Miguel Antonio López

Miguel Antonio López Pérez
Centro de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CiMUS),
Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela
Project Leader

Exosome targeting of the hypothalamus: a novel strategy for the treatment of obesity.

Obesity and its complications are a public health problem bordering on the scope of a pandemic. Currently, some drug therapies show promising results in reducing weight, but they remain unregulated by drug agencies because of the many associated side effects. Obesity is a complex problem in which different regulatory mechanisms converge, ranging from appetite control to body mass. Many of these mechanisms are found in the brain, specifically in the hypothalamus, which affects the regulation of food intake and energy balance, among others. The project proposes to reach these therapeutic targets in the central nervous system, without intervening directly in the skull, using exosomes. These extracellular vesicles would allow noninvasive access to the brain by way of the bloodstream to treat obesity.

Miguel López holds a PhD in Biology and is Professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of Santiago de Compostela, where he directs the NeurObesity Group. He completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), after which he returned to Spain as a Ramón y Cajal researcher. He conducts his research in the field of Neuroendocrinology and Metabolism. Specifically, it studies the hypothalamic mechanisms of control of energy balance, an area in which the contributions made on the role of the AMPK enzyme and lipid metabolism stand out. He has received the awards of the European Societies of Obesity, Endocrinology, Clinical Research and Thyroid, as well as the Constants and Vitals Award and the Prize of the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition to the trajectory of research in Neuroendocrinology. (Read full CV).

He conducts his research in the field of Neuroendocrinology and Metabolism. Specifically, he studies the hypothalamic mechanisms of control of energy balance, an area in which the contributions made on the role of the AMPK enzyme and lipid metabolism stand out.

Center for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases (CiMUS)
Av. Barcelona | Campus Vida | Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
15782 Santiago de Compostela
Tel.: (+34) 881 815 420

Email: [email protected]