Maria Barreira Gonzalez

Maria obtained her PhD from the University of Salamanca (Spain) working in the laboratory of Dr. Xose R. Bustelo at the Cancer Research Centre (CSIC-University of Salamanca). Her PhD was focused in understanding how the Vav family of oncoproteins, involved in many human diseases such as cancer, are regulated upon cell signalling activation. She moved to the UK to work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Hendrich Lab based at the Wellcome Trust - MRC Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge. There she studies how embryonic stem cells make decisions during mouse embryo development focusing on how these processes are controlled by gene regulation and cell signalling events. In the last years she has become really interested in science communication and public engagement trying to bring science closer to the general public.