Rafael Maldonado received his Medical Degree in 1985 in School of Medicine of the University of Cadiz (Spain), his first PhD in Neuropsychopharmacology in 1988, and he obtained his second PhD in Molecular Pharmacochemistry (INSERM U 266) in 1990. He carried out research on Pharmacology for 11 years in France and USA and, since 2000, he is a full Professor of Pharmacology at the University Pompeu Fabra where he founded the Laboratory NeuroPhar with 25 persons under his direction. His research is focused on the study of affective disorders, pain, drug addiction and eating disorders. He published over 370 scientific articles in international journals, he was funded with research grants by the main Spanish, European, USA agencies. He is an external advisor of health and scientific organizations, reviewer/member of the Editorial Board of relevant scientific journals and collaborator with public authorities and private companies in the research policy and pharmaceuticals development.

Research interests

In the Laboratory of NeuroPhar our main interest is the study of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying drug addiction, and related disorders, such as chronic pain, cognitive deficits, eating and affective disorders. These research lines aim at the identification of new therapeutic targets at the nervous system level. We use classical pharmacological strategies complemented with molecular approaches, consisting in the use of genetically modified animals and the employment of cutting-edge techniques. For this purpose, we apply different sophisticated behavioral models developed and validated in our laboratory, as well as complementary molecular, neurochemical, chemogenetics and neuroanatomical techniques.

Keywords

Drug addiction, affective disorders, neuropathic pain, neuropharmacology and psychopharmacology