Gemma Gomez Giro

Gemma Gomez Giro is a passionate scientist whose work is focused on neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration. She currently holds a Team Lead Scientist position at OrganoTherapeutics GmbH, a biotech company in Luxembourg which uses cutting-edge human-specific organoids for the discovery and development of effective drug candidates targeting Parkinson’s disease. Previously, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Luxembourg Center for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) in Luxembourg within the CONNECT-FET-proactive project, in which she worked together with an interdisciplinary team of researchers in multiple universities across Europe to develop an on-chip in vitro model of the brain-to-gut axis and use it to study its involvement in Parkinson disease. Prior to starting this position, she conducted her doctoral studies embedded in two different groups, in Germany and Luxembourg, successfully graduating from the WWU University in Münster. Her thesis research work is rooted within the investigation of a rare form of dementia in children, work to which she keeps a very close and dear connection since. Her academic interests in the neuroscience field motivated her to pursue various internships in the field of Alzheimer’s disease to start her first steps in academic research and gain primary experience, already during her undergraduate studies. Gemma earned a Bachelor degree in Biomedical sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, followed by a Master degree in the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. Her enthusiasm about growing and learning new techniques and her involvement in varied interdisciplinary project helped her build an ample skill portfolio. Her laboratory specialties include, cell culture, with a special focus on human stem cells and organoids and assembloids, genome editing, molecular biology, microscopy and image analysis and cell sorting, among others. She enjoys integrating different knowledge along her professional career development, which involve her into project management, mentorship and supervision of students, teaching, grant writing and reporting and presenting and disseminating her research activities. Gemma values learning from others, believing that valuable lessons come from all levels and that building genuine connections and people’s engagement and collaboration are what should drive the advance of science. Therefore, she remains willing and proactive in helping her team colleagues, students, collaborators and mentees to develop themselves and their research, to help build a network of people that do research to both expand knowledge but also aid people. Outside the office, she enjoys expanding her learning and open-mindedness in different horizons through reading, music, films, travelling, and challenging herself with new languages to build new connections. She is fluent in Catalan, Spanish, English and German, and currently trying her best with the Luxembourgish and French language.