Dr. Carlos Arámburo
Dr. Carlos Arámburo de la Hoz was born in Teziutlán, Pue., México, in 1953. He completed his bachelor’s studies as Biological Pharmaceutical Chemist, as well as his master’s and doctorate in Chemical Sciences (Biochemistry) at the Faculty of Chemistry of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He obtained honorable mention in his undergraduate degree and the Gabino Barreda Medal for his doctoral studies. During his academic training, he developed research work in the Department of Biochemistry of today’s National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition “Salvador Zubirán” (1975-1983) and teaching at the Faculty of Sciences of the UNAM (1979-1989), to later join the Biomedical Research Institute of this University as a researcher (1983-1993). He carried out various research stays at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (1985-1993) in the USA. Since 1993, he has worked in the Institute of Neurobiology (INb), UNAM, on the Juriquilla Campus in Querétaro, of which he was a co-founder and in which he currently is a Full Professor/Researcher. He holds the highest level in the UNAM’s Full-Time Academic Staff Performance Bonus Program (PRIDE D) and in the Mexican National System of Researchers (SNI level III). Throughout his professional career, he has maintained a balance in the performance of his activities as a subject professor, full-time researcher, and UNAM official.
His research work has focused on Comparative Neuroendocrinology, to which he has made novel contributions and in which he has trained a considerable number of students who today work as academics in different institutions, contributing to expanding the development of this area in Mexico. Simultaneously, he has carried out important institutional work to strengthen the investigative capacity of UNAM, promoting its leadership in the national territory and in Latin America, as well as consolidating programs that favor the development of academic career.
His specialty area is Protein Biochemistry, particularly in the field of molecular and functional characterization of peptide hormones of the somatotropic axis as messengers of the neuroendocrine system, through a comparative approach. He has carried out studies on the heterogeneity of growth hormone (GH) during the evolution of vertebrates, demonstrating that it is a family of proteins with functional and molecular diversity. Furthermore, he has characterized the post-translational modifications of GH in birds and reptiles (phosphorylation, glycosylation, aggregation, proteolytic processing) and their functional correlate. Likewise, his group studies the relevance of the extrapituitary expression of GH in tissues of the central nervous system (CNS), the immune system, and the reproductive system, showing that it plays a regulatory role through autocrine, paracrine, and/or intracrine mechanisms that modulate cell proliferation, differentiation and survival/protection effects. He has investigated the actions that GH exerts in the CNS; particularly, neuroprotection, neuroregeneration, synaptogenesis and neuroinflammation, in response to various types of neural damage, such as hypoxia-ischemia, excitotoxicity, optic nerve and spinal cord injuries. These studies aim to shed light on the evolution of the mechanisms involved in the neuroprotective and regenerative effect of GH in vertebrates, which would allow the design of strategies for the potential use of this hormone as a therapeutic agent in various lesions of nervous tissue or in neurodegenerative processes. His scientific production consists of 125 publications. He has presented over 400 communications in various forums, such as congresses, symposia, seminars and invited conferences. He has supervised 28 graduate and undergraduate theses and two postdoctoral fellows; while, in his laboratory, another 27 theses have been concluded on the lines of research that he leads. He has taught around thirty courses and workshops that have been offered around 150 times. He has obtained national and international funding for the development of around 40 research projects.
As part of his institutional work, he performed various functions over three decades: he was Academic Secretary of the then Neurobiology Center (1993-2002), Coordinator of the Juriquilla Campus (1997-2001), Director of the INb (2002-2007), Vice-President for Research at UNAM (2007-2015), and General Director of Academic Staff Affairs (2015-2020), from where he worked on the consolidation of the INb and the Juriquilla Campus, and his contributions were reflected in the creation of new academic entities, university programs and networks, as well as the promotion of scientific decentralization and the support of the development poles of the UNAM in the country. He worked on strengthening the experimental infrastructure and high-level equipment through the creation of national and university laboratories, as well as the elaboration of various policies and strategies to strengthen the scientific research and academic work carried out at the University. He served as advisor to the Board of Trustees of the Autonomous University of Querétaro; he was teaching coordinator of the National Teacher Training Program in the area of Biomedical Sciences, of the Ministry of Public Education and the Mexican Society of Physiological Sciences; he was part of the Evaluation Commission of the Thematic Networks Program of the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt); of the Board of Directors and of the Advisory Council of the Institute of Science and Technology of the Federal District; the Technical and Administration Committee of the Conacyt-Government of the State of Querétaro Mixed Fund; and the Biosphere-2 Advisory Board at the University of Arizona. He coordinated the work of 63 institutions led by UNAM for the elaboration of the National Agenda on Science, Technology and Innovation, which was included in the National Development Plan 2013-2018. He has received various distinctions: The Rockefeller Foundation fellowship; the Fogarty Foundation fellowship; Honorary Visiting Associate Professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; the recognition by the Higher Technological Institute of Teziutlán; the Vicente Lombardo Toledano Master Order by the Municipal Council of Teziutlán; and mention as one of “The 300 Most Influential Leaders in Mexico” by Líderes Mexicanos magazine. He has received recognition from the Institute of Neurobiology, the Juriquilla Campus, and the Center for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology of the UNAM, as well as from the Center for Global Change and Sustainability, A.C., for contributing to its development and consolidation. He received the 2022 National University Award in the area of Natural Sciences Research.
In 2010, together with Robert (Bob) Denver and Vance Trudeau, he was a co-founder of the North American Society for Comparative Endocrinology (NASCE), where he served as Vice-president/President Elect (2011-2013), President (2013-2015), and member of the Council (2015-2019) and selection committee. He has also worked as official member in boards of several national and international academic and scientific societies, including the International Federation of Comparative Endocrinological Societies (IFCES) and the International Society for Avian Endocrinology (ISAE). He was elected as NASCE fellow in 2022.
Link to Carlos Arámburo’s Lab web-page: https://132.248.142.23/web_site/home_pages/85?locale=en
His research work has focused on Comparative Neuroendocrinology, to which he has made novel contributions and in which he has trained a considerable number of students who today work as academics in different institutions, contributing to expanding the development of this area in Mexico. Simultaneously, he has carried out important institutional work to strengthen the investigative capacity of UNAM, promoting its leadership in the national territory and in Latin America, as well as consolidating programs that favor the development of academic career.
His specialty area is Protein Biochemistry, particularly in the field of molecular and functional characterization of peptide hormones of the somatotropic axis as messengers of the neuroendocrine system, through a comparative approach. He has carried out studies on the heterogeneity of growth hormone (GH) during the evolution of vertebrates, demonstrating that it is a family of proteins with functional and molecular diversity. Furthermore, he has characterized the post-translational modifications of GH in birds and reptiles (phosphorylation, glycosylation, aggregation, proteolytic processing) and their functional correlate. Likewise, his group studies the relevance of the extrapituitary expression of GH in tissues of the central nervous system (CNS), the immune system, and the reproductive system, showing that it plays a regulatory role through autocrine, paracrine, and/or intracrine mechanisms that modulate cell proliferation, differentiation and survival/protection effects. He has investigated the actions that GH exerts in the CNS; particularly, neuroprotection, neuroregeneration, synaptogenesis and neuroinflammation, in response to various types of neural damage, such as hypoxia-ischemia, excitotoxicity, optic nerve and spinal cord injuries. These studies aim to shed light on the evolution of the mechanisms involved in the neuroprotective and regenerative effect of GH in vertebrates, which would allow the design of strategies for the potential use of this hormone as a therapeutic agent in various lesions of nervous tissue or in neurodegenerative processes. His scientific production consists of 125 publications. He has presented over 400 communications in various forums, such as congresses, symposia, seminars and invited conferences. He has supervised 28 graduate and undergraduate theses and two postdoctoral fellows; while, in his laboratory, another 27 theses have been concluded on the lines of research that he leads. He has taught around thirty courses and workshops that have been offered around 150 times. He has obtained national and international funding for the development of around 40 research projects.
As part of his institutional work, he performed various functions over three decades: he was Academic Secretary of the then Neurobiology Center (1993-2002), Coordinator of the Juriquilla Campus (1997-2001), Director of the INb (2002-2007), Vice-President for Research at UNAM (2007-2015), and General Director of Academic Staff Affairs (2015-2020), from where he worked on the consolidation of the INb and the Juriquilla Campus, and his contributions were reflected in the creation of new academic entities, university programs and networks, as well as the promotion of scientific decentralization and the support of the development poles of the UNAM in the country. He worked on strengthening the experimental infrastructure and high-level equipment through the creation of national and university laboratories, as well as the elaboration of various policies and strategies to strengthen the scientific research and academic work carried out at the University. He served as advisor to the Board of Trustees of the Autonomous University of Querétaro; he was teaching coordinator of the National Teacher Training Program in the area of Biomedical Sciences, of the Ministry of Public Education and the Mexican Society of Physiological Sciences; he was part of the Evaluation Commission of the Thematic Networks Program of the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt); of the Board of Directors and of the Advisory Council of the Institute of Science and Technology of the Federal District; the Technical and Administration Committee of the Conacyt-Government of the State of Querétaro Mixed Fund; and the Biosphere-2 Advisory Board at the University of Arizona. He coordinated the work of 63 institutions led by UNAM for the elaboration of the National Agenda on Science, Technology and Innovation, which was included in the National Development Plan 2013-2018. He has received various distinctions: The Rockefeller Foundation fellowship; the Fogarty Foundation fellowship; Honorary Visiting Associate Professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; the recognition by the Higher Technological Institute of Teziutlán; the Vicente Lombardo Toledano Master Order by the Municipal Council of Teziutlán; and mention as one of “The 300 Most Influential Leaders in Mexico” by Líderes Mexicanos magazine. He has received recognition from the Institute of Neurobiology, the Juriquilla Campus, and the Center for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology of the UNAM, as well as from the Center for Global Change and Sustainability, A.C., for contributing to its development and consolidation. He received the 2022 National University Award in the area of Natural Sciences Research.
In 2010, together with Robert (Bob) Denver and Vance Trudeau, he was a co-founder of the North American Society for Comparative Endocrinology (NASCE), where he served as Vice-president/President Elect (2011-2013), President (2013-2015), and member of the Council (2015-2019) and selection committee. He has also worked as official member in boards of several national and international academic and scientific societies, including the International Federation of Comparative Endocrinological Societies (IFCES) and the International Society for Avian Endocrinology (ISAE). He was elected as NASCE fellow in 2022.
Link to Carlos Arámburo’s Lab web-page: https://132.248.142.23/web_site/home_pages/85?locale=en