Nerea graduated from University of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Health Biology. Her undergraduate research with Dr. Ángela María Valverde focused on studying the mechanisms involved in liver fibrosis development post-BDL in a knock-out murine model for the ptp1n gen, submitting a publication in 2019.

In 2018, she majored in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedicine at the Complutense University of Madrid and completed her master’s studies with Dr Yolanda Campos González developing a protocol for the differentiation towards motor neurons from human embryonic stem cells and human dermal fibroblasts as a model to study the glucose transporters 1 and 3 in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

From 2019 to 2021, she worked as a research technician with Dr Andrea Cerase within the Genomics and Child Health Division at Blizard Institute. During this time, she participated in several projects focused on X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) and XCI reversal using cell models. Particularly, she took part of a screening project using a double-reporter cell line to study XCI reversal in X-linked neurodevelopmental disorders such as Rett and CDKL5 syndromes.

In September 2023, Nerea successfully completed an MRes in Biomedical and Translational Science at KCL and she is currently undergoing doctoral studies at Dr Maria Jimenez-Sanchez’s lab, as part of the MRC Doctoral Training Programme. Her PhD focuses on unveiling the role of p62 at modulating astrocyte reactivity and its implications for ALS/FTD.