Career

Dr. Ines Martinez-Corral is a CRCN Researcher at INSERM U1172 (University of Lille, France), within the « Development and Plasticity of the Neuroendocrine Brain » team. Her research focuses on the intricate interactions at blood-brain interfaces, investigating how tanycytes and endothelial cells communicate within the hypothalamus to regulate the brain’s communication with the periphery. A central theme of her work is the role of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) signaling in controlling energy homeostasis in both physiological and pathological conditions.

Dr. Martinez-Corral brings a strong foundation in vascular biology to her neuroendocrinology research and has made significant contributions to the field. Her doctoral work at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) involved developing novel in vivo genetic tools to study lymphatic vessels and lymphangiogenesis. She continued to develop her expertise in lymphatic development during postdoctoral fellowships at Cancer Research UK in London and the Rudbeck Laboratory at Uppsala University, where she worked with and gain significant experience from one of the leaders in the lymphatic biology field, Professor Taija Mäkinen.

While establishing her independent research group, Dr. Martinez-Corral has already demonstrated her commitment to training the next generation of scientists, having mentored PhD students, master students, and trainees. She is also actively involved in the scientific community and serves as an INSERM ambassador, working to improve animal research practices. Dr. Martinez-Corral’s expertise combines mouse genetics, vascular biology, and molecular endocrinology to elucidate the dialogue between the brain and systemic circulation in the control of metabolism.