Ana Maria Cuervo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ana Maria Cuervo
|
|
|---|---|
Ana Maria Cuervo in 2008
|
|
| Born | July 14, 1966 |
| Nationality | Spanish and American |
| Occupation | Scientist, cell biologist |
| Known for | Chaperone-mediated autophagy research |
Ana Maria Cuervo (born 14 July 1966) is a Spanish-American doctor and scientist. She studies cells and how they work. Dr. Cuervo is a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She helps lead a special institute that studies aging. She is famous for her work on something called autophagy. This is how cells clean up and recycle their old or damaged parts. Her research helps us understand how our bodies change as we get older. It also helps us learn about diseases related to aging.
Contents
Life and Education
Ana Maria Cuervo was born in Barcelona, Spain, on July 14, 1966. She went to the University of Valencia to study medicine in 1986. Later, she earned her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology. She worked with a scientist named Erwin Knecht. He studied tiny parts of cells called lysosomes and proteosomes.
In 1993, Dr. Cuervo helped write her first science paper. It talked about how lysosomes break down waste in cells. This was an important discovery at the time. She also worked with Fred Dice at Tufts University. Together, they learned more about how lysosomes clean cells.
Discovering Chaperone-Mediated Autophagy
Dr. Cuervo joined Fred Dice's lab full-time. She wanted to understand how cells get rid of their waste. In 1996 and 2000, they shared their amazing findings. They found a special way cells clean themselves. They named this process chaperone-mediated autophagy.
Think of it like a special recycling system inside your cells. "Chaperones" are like guides that help damaged proteins get to the "lysosomes." Lysosomes are like tiny recycling centers that break down these old parts. This helps keep cells healthy and working well.
Research on Aging and Diseases
In 2001, Dr. Cuervo became a professor in New York. She kept studying chaperone-mediated autophagy. She wanted to know how it changes as people get older. She also looked at its role in human diseases.
Her lab found that this cleaning process can go wrong in diseases. For example, she worked with another scientist, David Sulzer. They found that chaperone-mediated autophagy is changed in people with Parkinson's disease. They also saw similar problems in Huntington Disease. Her team even found a protein called LRRK2 that can stop this cleaning process when it mutates.
Dr. Cuervo is also a leader at the Einstein Institute for Aging Research. She is a member of other research centers too. In 2015, she was chosen as an International Academic in Spain. In 2018, she joined the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
She also helps guide important science groups. She is one of the people who started "Women in Autophagy" (WIA). This group helps young women scientists who are interested in studying autophagy.
Dr. Cuervo helps edit a science journal called Aging Cell. She has written over 200 science papers. She has been on a list of "Highly Cited Researchers" many times. This means her work is very important and often used by other scientists.
Awards and Honors
Dr. Cuervo and her team have won many awards. These include the P. Benson Award and the Nathan Shock Memorial Award. She has also given many important talks around the world. In 2019, she was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Sciences. This is one of the highest honors for a scientist in the United States.
Personal Life
Dr. Cuervo speaks both Spanish and English. Her husband is Dr. Fernando Macian. He is also a scientist who studies the immune system at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
See also
In Spanish: Ana María Cuervo para niños
