Ana González Manteiga, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. González-Manteiga received her Bachelor's degree in Biology from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid (Spain) in 2017. She began her research career in the Lab of Aging, Neuroimmunology and Nutrition, studying the effects of social environment on antioxidant defenses in mice under Professor Mónica de la Fuente del Rey. This work sparked her enthusiasm for understanding brain function. Pursuing her interest in neuroscience, she earned a Master's degree in Neuroscience from the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid (Spain). For her project, she collaborated with Dr. Eva Cano-López at Carlos III Health Institute, studying the effects of oligomeric β-amyloid on microglial cells. In 2019, she embarked on her Ph.D. in Biotechnology at the Universitat Politècnica de València, conducting her research at the Príncipe Felipe Research Center in the Cortical Circuits in Health and Disease lab led by Dr. Pietro Fazzari. Her Ph.D. thesis focused on Neuregulin 1 signaling in brain damage and the development of novel models for cortical regeneration. During this time she gained expertise in stereotaxic surgery, viral tracing, histology, mouse behavior and image analysis. She was awarded her Ph.D. with CUM LAUDE honors in October 2023. Recently, Dr. González-Manteiga moved to Cincinnati and joined the Oria lab at the University of Cincinnati as a postdoctoral fellow. Her current research focuses on investigating the effects of radiotoxicity on the healthy brain and brain cancer.

Damir Garcia

Senior Research Assistant

I started my professional career in September 2005 in the Microbiology Department at the University of Barcelona. Collaborating with the Ecotoxicology Unit from the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), I performed toxicology tests, along with chromatography and other techniques, with plants and worms obtained from fuel contaminated soils. In 2007 I obtained a position at the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Research at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital (VHIR-HUVH) in Barcelona, working at the Viral Hepatitis Group directed by Dr. Josep Quer Sivila. I spent close to sixteen years working in viral genomics and acquiring a lot of experience working with next-generation sequencing methodologies using different sequencing platforms like Roche 454, Illumina or PacBio.