Paola Bovolenta
- Director of the Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Autonomous University of Madrid
Paola Bovolenta is the Director of the Centre for Molecular Biology (CSIC-UAM), Scientific Director of the CBM Severo Ochoa Excellence Award. She completed her PhD at the New York University School of Medicine and her postdoctoral work at Columbia University, Centre for Neurobiology and Behavior. She is internationally recognized for her work in the development of the vertebrate visual system and related congenital malformations, as well as for novel insights into the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Her expertise led to her appointment as CSIC’s Biology and Biomedicine Coordinator (2008-2012) and to the invitation to join the ERC Scientific Council (2017-2022), where she influenced European research, chaired the ERC Open Science Working Group, and participated in the EU Core Group on Reform of Research Assessment. She is member of the editorial board of different journals and frequently serves on selection committees for national and international private and public funding agencies and scientific awards. Among other engagements, she is currently President of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), serves on the EMBO Policy Advisory Board and the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of distinct European research centers and foundations. She is an elected member of EMBO and Academia Europaea and received the decoration of “Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia”.