Oscar Marín facts for kids

Oscar Marín Parra is a famous neuroscientist from Spain and Britain. A neuroscientist is a scientist who studies the brain and the nervous system. He was born on March 31, 1971. He is married to another neuroscientist, Beatriz Rico.

Learning and Early Career

Oscar Marín was born in Madrid, Spain. He studied Biology at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. After that, he earned his PhD in neuroscience. This means he became an expert in how the brain works.

He then did more training with other scientists. He worked with María Ángela Nieto in Spain. He also worked with John L. Rubenstein and Marc Tessier-Lavigne in San Francisco, USA.

Brain Research and Work

Before 2014, Oscar Marín worked at the Instituto de Neurociencias in Alicante, Spain. In 2014, he became a Professor of Neuroscience at King's College London in the UK.

Since 2014, he has led the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King's. He also leads the MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders since 2016. These centers study how the brain develops.

Professor Marín is well-known for his discoveries about brain cells. He studies how neurons, which are brain cells, grow and connect. He especially looks at how special cells called "inhibitory interneurons" develop. These cells help control brain activity.

His research has shown how problems in brain development can lead to certain conditions. These conditions include autism and schizophrenia. His work helps us understand these conditions better.

Awards and Special Honours

Oscar Marín has received many important awards for his work. In 2004, he won the European Young Investigator Award. This award recognized him as a promising young scientist.

He received the Rey Jaime I Award in 2011. In 2012, he won the FENS-EJN Young Investigator Award. These awards celebrate excellent research in neuroscience.

In 2014, he received the Roger de Spoelberch Award. This was for his research on schizophrenia. He also received the Ramón y Cajal Medal in 2017. This medal came from the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences. In 2019, he won the Remedios Caro Almela Award.

More recently, in 2023, he received the ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award. This was for his basic science research. In 2024, he was awarded the prestigious FENS-EJN Prize.

Professor Marín is also a member of important scientific groups. He became a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2010. In 2020, he joined the Academy of Medical Sciences. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2022. He also helped start the European Research Council.

See also

In Spanish: Óscar Marín Parra para niños