Dr. Jessica Abbott
Biological and related sciences Evolutionary biology, Evolutionary genetics
Health, Biological and related sciences
Metabolism, Physiology, Neurobiology
brain-gut axis
appetite regulation
sex differences
Drosophila melanogaster
enteric nervous system
nutrient sensing
digestive physiology
organ plasticity
Featured by the Journal of Cell Science as a “cell scientist to watch”, 2015
Featured in the Physiological Society’s “Women Physiologists” book, 2015
EMBO Young Investigator Programme (EMBO YIP), 2012 – 2014
Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowship, 2008 – 2013
Royal Society University Research Fellowship (turned down in favour of RCDF)
EU Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship, 2005 – 2007
University of Oxford Goodger scholarship, 1998
La Caixa-British Council award, 1997 – 1998
Spanish Ministry of Education and Science prize: best national academic record, 1997
UAB Prize for the best academic record, 1997
Spanish Ministry of Education and Science studentship, 1996
Catalan, English, Spanish
1997-2001 Oxford University, UK. DPhil in Genetics in Prof. Kay Davies's lab
2001-2004 Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA and Linkoping University, Sweden. Postdoc in Prof. Stefan Thor's lab
2005-2008 MRC NIMR, London, UK. Postdoc in Dr. Alex Gould's lab
2008-2012 Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, UK; Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellow
2012-present MRC Clinical Sciences Centre – Imperial College London
Hudry, B., Khadayate, S., Miguel-Aliaga, I. (2016) The sexual identity of adult intestinal stem cells controls organ size and plasticity. Nature 530:344-8.
Highlighted by Cell Stem Cell Preview, Curr Biol Dispatch and Nature News and Views.
Reiff, T., Jacobson, J., Cognigni, P., Antonello, Z.A., Ballesta, E., Tan, K.J., Yew, J.Y., Dominguez, M., Miguel-Aliaga, I. (2015) Endocrine remodelling of the adult intestine sustains reproduction in Drosophila. Elife 4:e06930.
Recommended in F1000 and highlighted by Elife Insight and Curr Biol Dispatch.
Linneweber, G.A., Jacobson, J., Busch, K.E., Hudry, B., Christov, C.P., Dormann, D., Yuan, M., Otani, T., Knust, E., de Bono, M., Miguel-Aliaga, I. (2014) Neuronal control of metabolism through nutrient-dependent modulation of tracheal branching. Cell 156(1-2):69.
Recommended in F1000 and highlighted in EMBO J.
Talsma, A., Christov, C.P., Terriente-Felix, A., Linneweber, G., Shafer, O.T., Miguel-Aliaga, I. (2012) Remote control of renal function by an intestinal neuropeptide. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(30):12177.
Cognigni, P., Bailey, A.P., Miguel-Aliaga, I. (2011) Enteric neurons and systemic signals couple nutritional and reproductive Status with intestinal homeostasis. Cell Metab 13(1): 92.
Sex differences in the intestine
Functions of enteric neurons
Organ plasticity
Neurovascular interactions
Scientific Advisory Board for the Institute of Functional Genomics of Lyon (IGFL), France
BBSRC Pool of Experts (occasional committee member)
Wellcome Trust Pool of Prospective Committee Members
CSC Institute Planning and Operations Group
Deputy Chair of the Athena Swan Opportunities Committee
Academic advisor to the CSC Bioinformatics Facility
Ad-hoc reviewer for ERC, Wellcome Trust, MRC , BBSRC, Leverhulme Trust, NC3Rs, ANR (France), ANEP (Spain), ISF (Israel), Research Foundation Flanders – FWO (Belgium) and the Nutrition Obesity Research Center (University of Michigan)
Ad-hoc reviewer for Science, Nature, Elife, Cell Metab, Nat Genet, Genes Dev, Nat Methods, PLoS Biol, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, EMBO J, Curr Biol, PLoS Genetics, Aging Cell, Trends Endoc Metab, Development, Cell Rep, J Insect Physiol, J Exp Biol, Cell Res, BMC Genomics, PLoS One
Guest Editor for PLoS Genetics
Scientific reviewer and committee member for “Ramon y Cajal” awards 2010 (Spanish government returning fellowships for independent researchers)
Interviewer for EMBO Long-Term Fellowships
Member of the Biochemical Society, Genetics Society, British Society for Developmental Biology, British Society for Cell Biology and Physiological Society
“Brainy Tongue" workshop, featuring world-renowned chefs and neurobiologists (http://brainytongue.com/), 2016
BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service interview (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0713p30), 2016
Media coverage of Hudry et al. in The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, Medical News Today, i (the paper for today), Press and Journal (Scotland), Medical Xpress, Yahoo! News, BT.com, Irish Examiner, The Conversation, 2016
Media coverage of Reiff et al. in New Scientist, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mirror, Evening Standard, Metro, CBS News, Irish Independent, SBS and 9 News (amongst others), 2015
BBC audio slideshow (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12686745), 2011
Media coverage of my lab's first paper: CBS News, the New Scientist, Times Higher Education, Le Point, Discover Magazine, Times of India, 2011
Contributed images to the University of Cambridge's 800th anniversary light show. One of them was also the exclusive image used for the posters and flyers advertising the event, 2010
Interviewed by ITV Anglia (800th anniversary feature), 2010
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Biological and related sciences Evolutionary biology, Evolutionary genetics
Biological and related sciences , HealthCell Biology, Cellular signaling, Cancer biology, Cancer therapy
HealthAcademic Medicine
Biological and related sciences cell biology, molecular biology, biomedicine
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