Alicia G. Arroyo graduated in Medicine from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1989, beginning her scientific training as an undergraduate student in the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB, CSIC). After this, she specialised in immunology in the Hospital de la Princesa (Madrid), where she did her doctoral thesis on novel mechanisms for the regulation of integrin cellular adhesion receptors in human leukocytes (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 1994). In 1995 she moved to Dr. R.O. Hynes' laboratory (MIT, Cambridge, USA), where she analysed the in vivo function of alpha4 integrins in haematopoiesis and inflammation, in mice deficient or chimeric for these receptors. In 1999 she established her group at the Hospital Universitario de la Princesa (as a CSIC Científico Titular). Here she began her studies into the regulation of extracellular matrix metalloproteinases. She joined the CNIC as Group Leader in December 2003. She is currently Senior Group Leader, and her scientific interests are focused on characterizing the cellular principles and molecular pathways contributing to new vessel formation in different organs, particularly in the heart, in homeostasis and upon inflammation and on using this information for designing novel angiotherapies to improve tissue performance and repair.
