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Dr. Ana María Cuervo. Image / Albert Einstein College of Medicine
 26.01.2026

IRB Barcelona appoints Dr. Ana María Cuervo to its International Scientific Advisory Board

The Institute for Research in Biomedicine of Barcelona (IRB Barcelona) welcomes Dr. Ana María Cuervo, a world leader in the biology of aging, as a new member of its International Scientific Advisory Board (EAB). Her appointment reinforces the institution’s commitment to scientific excellence by strengthening its international strategic orientation through the EAB.

She joins the board following the completion of the mandate of Dr. Michael P. Czech, whose valuable contributions and long-standing dedication to the institute are gratefully acknowledged. The EAB, composed of 14 leading figures in biomedicine, plays a key role in evaluating the Institute’s scientific activity and guiding its long-term research strategy.

Dr. Cuervo is an internationally renowned scientist in the fields of ageing and protein degradation. She is co-Director of the Einstein Institute for Aging Research and holds the Robert and Renée Belfer Chair for the Study of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

A pioneering figure in the study of autophagy in ageing, her laboratory discovered Chaperone-Mediated Autophagy (CMA), a protein degradation pathway essential for maintaining cellular protein homeostasis (proteostasis) which is the process that maintains the proper function of the proteins inside the cells (the proteome). Her research has uncovered fundamental mechanisms linking altered autophagy to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s as well as to metabolic disorders (obesity and diabetes).

With more than 300 publications and over 74,000 citations, Dr. Cuervo is listed among the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University for career-long scientific impact. She is elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences and the Spanish Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences.

Her incorporation into the EAB strengthens IRB Barcelona’s mission to pursue scientific excellence with an international perspective and to continue advancing research with a transformative impact on health and society.

» Link to the news: IRB Barcelona website [+]