Carmen Sandi
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Carmen Sandi (born 1961) is a Spanish and Swiss behavioral neuroscientist. She is a
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...
of
neuroscience Neuroscience is the science, scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a Multidisciplinary approach, multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, an ...
and director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics at the Brain Mind Institute (
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...
).


Early life and education

Born and raised in
Torrelavega Torrelavega ( Cantabrian: ''Torlavega'') is a municipality and important industrial and commercial hub in the single province Autonomous Community of Cantabria, northern Spain. It is situated roughly 8 kilometres from the Cantabrian Coast and 27 ...
(
Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...
),
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
, Sandi moved to
Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...
to obtain her BS and MS from the
University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca ( es, Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It is t ...
in 1984 and further to
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
for her
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...
at the
Cajal Institute The Cajal Institute (IC) is a research center in neurobiology which belongs to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). The IC originates from the ''Laboratorio de Investigaciones Biológicas'', founded in 1900 by order of King Alfonso XII ...
(
Spanish National Research Council The Spanish National Research Council ( es, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC) is the largest public institution dedicated to research in Spain and the third largest in Europe. Its main objective is to develop and promote res ...
) and the
Autonomous University of Madrid The Autonomous University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; UAM), commonly known as simply la Autónoma, is a Spanish public university located in Madrid, Spain. The university was founded in 1968 alongside the Autonomous Univers ...
in 1988. She continued her
postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...
at INSERM,
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
(1989–90) and
Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...
, UK (1991–96).


Research and career

Sandi worked as a
Research Associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Master's degree. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/ Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Public Health, t ...
at her alma mater (
Cajal Institute The Cajal Institute (IC) is a research center in neurobiology which belongs to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). The IC originates from the ''Laboratorio de Investigaciones Biológicas'', founded in 1900 by order of King Alfonso XII ...
; 1993–95), before joining faculty as an
Associate Professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the '' North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is ...
Tenured at UNED University,
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
. She spent nearly a decade there (1996-2003) working on the relationship between
fear conditioning Pavlovian fear conditioning is a behavioral paradigm in which organisms learn to predict aversive events. It is a form of learning in which an aversive stimulus (e.g. an electrical shock) is associated with a particular neutral context (e.g., a ...
and
memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remember ...
. After taking a year long sabbatical (2002–03) as a visiting professor at the
University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...
,
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, she joined EPFL in
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
as a tenure track
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...
, and has been working there since. At the EPFL, Sandi is currently Full Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics. She was the director of the Brain Mind Institute from 2012–2019. She is founder and co-President of the Swiss Stress Network. Currently, Sandi's lab investigates stress, the brain, and behaviour - namely the neurobiological mechanisms of how stress alters the brain in the context of cognition and social behaviours. Her interests have expanded beyond social dominance across multiple subjects and into coping mechanisms in depressive situations at the individual level. She has published over 190 papers, resulting in more than 12600 citations and an
h-index The ''h''-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar. The ''h''-index correlates with obvious success indicators such as ...
of 64. From 2010-2011 Sandi was president of the
European Brain and Behaviour Society The European Brain and Behaviour Society (EBBS) is a scientific society founded in 1968 whose stated purpose is the exchange of information between European scientists interested in the relationships between brain mechanisms and behaviour. It is the ...
and she became president of the
Federation of European Neuroscience Societies The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) is a European federation of scientific societies for basic scientists and physicians whose research is focused on the brain and nervous system (i.e., neuroscience). History The federation ...
for the 2018–2020 term. In the same year, she also became co-director of the Swiss research network ( National Centre of Competence in Research) on psychiatric disorders, "Synapsy". She also serves on the
editorial board The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take. Mass media At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, ...
s of '' Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences'', ''
Journal of Psychiatric Research The ''Journal of Psychiatric Research'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering research in four major areas of psychiatry: clinical studies on normal and pathological human behavior; basic studies in psychiatry and related fields; clin ...
'', '' Neurobiology of Stress'', '' Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews'', eNeuro,
Biological Psychiatry Biological psychiatry or biopsychiatry is an approach to psychiatry that aims to understand mental disorder in terms of the biological function of the nervous system. It is interdisciplinary in its approach and draws on sciences such as neuroscie ...
and Psychoneuroendocrinology.


Publications

# Sandi, C., Pinelo-Nava, M.T. Stress and Memory: Behavioral Effects and Neurobiological Mechanisms. ''Neural Plasticity.'' 2007; Article ID: 78970
Stress and Memory: Behavioral Effects and Neurobiological Mechanisms
#Sandi, C., Haller, J. Stress and the social brain: behavioural effects and neurobiological mechanisms. ''Nat Rev Neurosci'' 16, 290–304 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3918 #Sandi, C., Loscertales, M., Guaza, C. Experience‐dependent facilitating effect of corticosterone on spatial memory formation in the water maze. ''European Journal of Neuroscience.'' 1997; 9(4): 637–642
Experience-dependent Facilitating Effect of Corticosterone on Spatial Memory Formation in the Water Maze
#Filiou, M.D., Sandi, C. Anxiety and Brain Mitochondria: A Bidirectional Crosstalk. ''Trends in Neurosciences.'' 2019; 42(9): 573–588
Anxiety and Brain Mitochondria: A Bidirectional Crosstalk
#Hollis, F., Kooij, M.A., Zanoletti, O., et al. Mitochondrial Function in the Brain Links Anxiety With Social Subordination. ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.'' 2015; 112(50): 15486–15491
Mitochondrial function in the brain links anxiety with social subordination
#Bacq, A., Astori, S., Gebara, E., et al. Amygdala GluN2B-NMDAR Dysfunction Is Critical in Abnormal Aggression of Neurodevelopmental Origin Induced by St8sia2 Deficiency. ''Molecular Psychiatry.'' 2018; (Published ahead of print), doi: 10.1038/s41380-018-0132-3


Awards and honors

* Ron de Kloet Award (2018) * Visiting Professor, Rockefeller University, New York (2016) * Valkhof Chair, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands (2015) * Distinguished Visiting Scientist Fellow, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2015) * Society for Social Neuroscience (SS4N), Inaugural Fellow (2015) * Behavioral Brain Research Prize (2014) * Faculty of 1000, Section Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty member (2012) * Latsis Foundation award EPFL-Latsis Symposium (2009) * Visiting Professor, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (1999) * Serono Research Prize (1984)


References


External links

*
Sandi Carmen

Carmen Sandi , NCCR-SynapsyCarmen Sandi awarded the Behavioral Brain Research PrizeCarmen Sandi wins the first Ron de Kloet award for her work on stressCarmen Sandi: “There is a causal link between mitochondrial function and rank in social hierarchy”Heart racing, palms sweaty – what does stress do to the body?
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandi, Carmen Spanish women neuroscientists Spanish neuroscientists Behavior geneticists Date of birth missing (living people) Living people 1961 births