ApconiX Welcomes Dr Aina Mogas Barcons
ApconiX is delighted to welcome Dr Aina Mogas Barcons who joins the Safety Science team and will be working on target safety assessments with Dr Helen Garside. Aina is a PhD neuroscientist with a strong background in neurodegenerative diseases. A native speaker of Spanish and Catalan, Aina has a passion for applying her knowledge to toxicological assessments.
Academic Career
Aina gained her BSc in biology at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. The degree covered many aspects of biology and neuroscience was one area Aina found particularly interesting. Aina carried on her academic studies at university in Barcelona gaining a MSC studying effect of neural and muscular Interleukin 6 (IL-6) on body weight control. IL-6 is thought to have a role in suppression of food intake and body weight and stimulates the inflammatory and auto-immune processes in many diseases including diabetes.
Under the Erasmus programme, Aina joined Keele University for a 3 month study of nanoparticle uptake by neural stem cells.
Aina returned to Keele University to carry out research for her PhD. Her project was to establish a simpler, less expensive and more ethical spinal cord injury model. Aina tested biomaterials that might regenerate the spinal cord following injury using chick embryo organotypic slices.
Moving to the University of Sheffield, Aina characterised mitochondrial and lysosomal phenotypes of Parkinson’s Disease derived dopaminergic neurons. Staying on at Sheffield, Aina continued to research areas associated with Parkinson’s Disease, working in collaboration with a US company, studying the new compound modulation of patient derived astrocytes. Aina continued as a research associate at Oxford University where she worked on a drug discovery project, studying the effect of mitophagy-enhancing compounds of Parkinson’s Disease dopaminergic neurons.
Working at ApconiX
Although enjoying working in the laboratory, Aina wondered about applying her knowledge to drug safety. Finding the ApconiX vacancy advertised on the European Medical Writers Association website, Aina was drawn to the job description and applied.
Specifically, Aina was attracted by the chance to learn more about nonclinical toxicology and apply her critical thinking and knowledge to the evaluation of target and modality safety.
Dr Helen Garside, Senior Safety Science Toxicologist, commented, “Aina brings a wealth of experience of molecular mechanisms of neuronal function that will expand our CNS organ toxicity expertise. She has already made a fantastic contribution and is a highly collaborative and valued member of the team.”
Interests Outside Work
Aina has recently moved to North Wales and enjoys exploring countryside, towns and cities on both sides of the border. A keen volleyball player, Aina is yet to find a local Volleyball Club so has taken up climbing.