2016_01_07_CIE_Alvaro_biodonostia

Álvaro Santos Las o studied last year theMaster's Degree in research Biomedical of the School of Sciences. At present, he is doing the doctorate in the area of Hepatic and Gastrointestinal Diseases of the Biodonostia Center. From there he explains what training meant to him at postgraduate program.

One year after finishing the Master's Degree, what project are you involved in?
Right now I am doing the thesis at the high school de research Sanitaria Bidonostia (IISB), at the Hospital Universitario Donostia. Specifically, in the group of Hepatic Diseases, where I did my work end of Master's Degree. Here I continue the same line of research that I started during the Master's Degree and that is related to the analysis of the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in polycystic liver diseases and in the development of new therapeutic strategies.

How did postgraduate program help to guide your future researcher?
The postgraduate program in research Biomedical helped me to understand the importance for society to perform a translational research -from laboratory to the patient's bedside- and pushed me to work so that, in the not too distant future, this subject of research will improve the health attendance .

How did you receive the news of your enrollment of honor in the MIB?
I took this recognition with great joy and satisfaction, as a reward for the work done during those months. In addition, the project has recently received the support of the Diputación de Guipúzcoa, whose funding will guarantee its correct development.

My work is focused on the study of the pathogenesis of polycystic liver diseases: chronic genetic diseases that affect the liver and are characterized by the development of symptomatic biliary cysts that are the main cause of morbidity. Specifically, we want to analyze the function of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in these biliary pathologies, and determine the presence or not of ER stress, so that we can regulate it therapeutically. In my project of Master's Degree we already proved that polycystic biliary cells present "ER stress", which reinforces the idea that ER regulation may be an interesting therapeutic target.

What makes this postgraduate program a recommended choice?
One of the strong points of Master's Degree is its division into specialties, which helps students to develop a more specific profile researcher , adjusted to their interests. In my case, moreover, the MIB has allowed me to get to know the dynamics of a work group of research. On the other hand, the fact that some subjects are taught in English has allowed me to acquire some experience to get by on a day-to-day basis, where the use of this language is essential. 

How do you plan your future?
meeting Right now I feel very comfortable at high school of research Sanitaria Biodonostia. I would not mind working here in the future. Of course, after getting to know other research centers abroad and acquiring more training.