About Javier Gilbert jaramillo

PERSONAL SUMMARY I finished my major in Biology with honours from the ESPOL Polytechnic University (Guayaquil – Ecuador) in 2014. During my undergraduate studies, I collaborated with the Antarctic Chilean Institute researching on genetic biomarkers of climate change and pollution using the Antarctic sea urchin (S. neumayeri) as a model. In 2015, I was awarded with a scholarship from the Ecuadorian National Government to conduct my MRes studies in Translational Neurology at UCL, where I joined Isaacs’ lab. My research consisted on the development of a biomarker for C9orf72 ALS/FTD. After obtaining a distinction degree, I was recruited as a Junior Lecturer/Researcher in the Faculty of Life Sciences (ESPOL). My field of research included biomarker analysis for novel nutritional therapies in neuropsychiatry disorders. I conducted one of the first pilot studies using the ketogenic diet as a treatment for schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders in collaboration with Christopher Palmer, MD-PhD (McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School). Currently, I remain holding the scholarship from the Ecuadorian National Government to conduct my DPhil studies at the Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford. RESEARCH AREA My field of research is related to nutrient energy metabolism of the early human brain in health and disease. Currently, my DPhil research project is aiming to elucidate the connection between native immunity and metabolic dysregulation/shift in progenitor brain cells during Zika virus infection, as the cause of different brain abnormalities, particularly microcephaly.