Encarnación de Miguel Villegas

Dr. Encarnación de Miguel Villegas (PhD in Biology) main line of research focuses on the study of the development of the central nervous system and sensory organs of fish.

After an initial period in which various aspects of the differentiation of the visual and oculomotor system of the sea lamprey and the development of tracts in zebrafish are studied, the species of interest has been turbot, a teleost of great importance in the aquaculture industry in Spain. In this species the works carried out have provided important data on the ontogeny of the terminal nerve, olfactory system, retina, vascular sac and cerebellum. In them, there have been established the patterns of proliferation during development, providing data on cell differentiation and the establishment of different morphologies and functionality of the different systems studied.

Additionally, studies have been carried out in collaboration with other researchers, which include those related to the differentiation of colon cancer cells, recognition of mollusk larvae, effects of inorganic nanoparticles and aggregates in different cell types and application of histological techniques in biomedical research.

The research work has been collected in publications of recognized prestige with a notable impact factor, participating in multiple national and international congresses.