Pilar Cubas has been appointed president of the Biosciences and Biotechnology (BIO) thematic area of the State Research Agency. This appointment has an initial duration of three years during which Cubas will be responsible for leading the tasks assigned to the Biosciences and Biotechnology area, which in turn contains three sub-areas: Integrative Biology and Physiology, Molecular and Cellular Biology and Biotechnology.
Pilar Cubas holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from the Autonomous University of Madrid. Her career began in the field of the development of the nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster, and as a postdoctoral researcher her interests turned towards the molecular genetics of plants. In Rico Coen's laboratory at the John Innes Institute (Norwich, UK), she discovered the TCP domain, typical of a family of plant transcription factors. She also studied the role of the CYLOIDEA gene in the evolution of bilateral floral symmetry and discovered the molecular basis responsible for the change in the symmetry of the flowers of a natural variant of Linaria vulgaris, first described by Linnaeus.
Researcher at the CNB-CSIC since 2002, her group studies the function of TCP genes in the control of plant architecture and the genetic networks involved in this process in Arabidopsis thaliana. She has also studied the evolution of BRANCHED1 genes in other angiosperms, particularly in Solanaceae. Cubas collaborates with leading international groups in the study of branching control and signalling by strigolactones. Her research is reflected in the publication of more than 60 scientific articles in specialised journals, she has obtained international cooperation funds and maintains contracts and collaborations with companies.
In addition to Cubas, other CNB-CSIC researchers collaborate in the AEI evaluation panels: Inés M Antón in the area of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Andrea Chini in the area of Agricultural and Agrifood Sciences and Susanna Manrubia in the area of Physical Sciences.
The State Research Agency
The State Research Agency (AEI) is the body of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities in charge of promoting scientific and technical research in all areas of knowledge through the efficient allocation of public resources. To carry out these functions, the AEI has a team of more than 250 professionals specialised in research management tasks.
In addition to these multidisciplinary teams, the AEI has more than two hundred and fifty Scientific-Technical Collaborators who are integrated in the 19 different Scientific-Technical Areas of the Agency. They are experts in R&D&I who dedicate part of their time to the scientific-technical management of the AEI's grants. Their collaboration is essential for the Agency to be able to carry out its functions.