Section A. PERSONAL DATA
Name and Surname Miguel Merchan Cifuentes
DNI 50667882D Age 67
Researcher’s identification number Researcher ID G-3087-2015
Scopus Author ID 7005944323
ORCID 0000-0002-1334-2822
A.1. Current professional situation
Institution Universidad de Salamanca
Dpt. / Centre Biología celular y patología / Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León
Address Calle Pintor Fernando Gallego 1, Laboratorio 4, 37001, Salamanca
Phone 923294563 Email merchan@usal.es
Professional category Catedrático de Universidad Start date 1986
Keywords
A.2. Academic education (Degrees, institutions, dates)
Bachelor/Master/PhD University Year
Especialista MIR Anatomía Patológica Hospital Clínico de San Carlos de
Madrid 1980
Doctor en Medicina y Cirugía Universidad Complutense de Madrid 1979
Licenciado en Medicina y Cirugía Universidad Complutense de Madrid 1977
A.3. General quality indicators of scientific production
Number of PhD dissertations defended under my directorship since 2010: 5
Google Scholar – Publications: 83. Total times cited: 2003.Total citations in the last five years:569. h-Index =22. i10-Index = 35.Researcher ID, Scopus.- Publications: 46. Total times cited: 1259. h-index: 17.
Section B. SUMMARY OF THE CURRICULUM
I graduated (Summa Cum Laude) and doctorate in Medicine from the Complutense University of Madrid. I presented my doctoral thesis in 1979 on electron microscopy of the guinea pig organ of Corti while working on my specialization in Pathology (MIR) in Madrid at the University Hospital of San Carlos. After finishing my residency in Pathology, I moved to the University of Salamanca (USAL) in 1982. In the USAL I reach a position of Associate Professor in 1984 and Chair Professor in 1986. In this period of time up to the early nineties, I alternated teaching duties with short stays at the Department of Communication and Neuroscience in Keel (UK),
Anatomical Institute of Oslo (Norway) and Department of Physiology and Neuroscience at the University Of Newcastle (UK). During the nineties I created and promoted the Doctorate Program in Neuroscience at USAL and after that, the Institute of Neuroscience of Castilla y Leon, having obtained and managed funds and equipment (8M€) for a new building, which started operating in 2007. Also, I was appointed by the government of Spain as coordinator of the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Neurologicas (CIEN) and by the government of Castilla y Leon for the creation of the Center of Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine. I have been awarded 23 funded grants by national and international agencies, 13 of them as a PI in projects from the national I+D program (uninterruptedly since 1985). These grants have allowed me to create a solid infrastructure for developing a large research group in Auditory Neuroscience whose members actually develop an outstanding research, well recognized by the international scientific community. My former doctorate students, such as Prof. Dr. Sanchez Malmierca, Prof. Dr. Saldaña (both Professors at the University of Salamanca), Dra. Bajo (Professor at the University of Oxford) as well as some more recent, such as Dra. Riquelme (CSIC), Dra. Clarkson (University of New York), Dra. Lamas (Salk Institute) or Dra. Pernia (University of Pittsburg) among others, currently actively publish in the field of Auditory Neuroscience.
I have reviewed papers for international journals and projects for international agencies and have been a member of editorial boards of journals such as JARO or Anatomy and Embryology, Neuroscience, Frontiers, Brain Sciences, MDPI, Audiology Res., etc .I publish a total number of 88 publications in indexed journals.
The auditory system has centered my research work from my doctorate to the present. In in the eighties and nineties my main interests were the anatomy of the auditory brainstem and midbrain (cochlea, cochlear nuclei, lateral lemniscus – LL- and inferior colliculus – IC-). Original results, from Hensen cells fat delivery, cochlear root neurons, tonotopy of lateral lemniscal nuclei, connectivity in the cortex and midbrain, neurotransmitters and receptors of the IC and LLN, among others, have been published in high quality indexed neuroscience journals as
J. of Comp. Neur. (10 papers), J. Neuroscience, Neuroscience and Frontiers, among others. Also in journals in the auditory field, such as Hearing Res., as well as in book chapters and special issues (Editors such as Plenum Press, Oxford UP, Elsevier, etc.). In the last decade my research interest, has focused in translational animal models of lesion plasticity with special emphasis on time evolution of structural and functional changes after brain damage or sensory deprivation.
Section C. MOST RELEVANT MERITS (ordered by typology)
Publications (Last five years).
Corresponding author; Contributions: 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18
1 Scientific paper. Clara M Poveda; María L Valero; Marianny Pernia; Juan C Alvarado; David K Ryugo; Miguel A Merchán; Jose M Juiz. 2020. Expression and Localization of Kv1.1 and Kv3.1b Potassium Channels in the Cochlear Nucleus and Inferior Colliculus after Long-Term Auditory Deafferentation Brain Science. MDPI open access journal. 10-1, pp.35.
2 Scientific paper. Marianny Pernía Rosales; Iván Díaz García; Ana Cecilia Colmenárez Raga; Casto Rivadulla Fernández; Javier Cudeiro Mazaira; Ignacio Plaza; Miguel A. Merchán. 2019. Cross-modal reaction of auditory and visual cortices after long-term bilateral hearing deprivation in the rat Brain Structure and Function. Springer. 225-1, pp.129-148.
3 Scientific paper. Colmenárez-Raga, Ana Cecilia; Díaz, Iván; Pernia, Marianny; Pérez-González, David; Delgado-García, José M; Carro, Juan; Plaza, Ignacio; Merchán, Miguel A. 2019. Reversible functional changes evoked by anodal epidural direct current electrical stimulation of the rat auditory cortex Frontiers in Neuroscience. Frontiers. 13, pp.356-356.
4 Scientific paper. Lamas, V.; Juiz, J.M.; Merchán, M.A.2017. Ablation of the auditory cortex results in changes in the expression of neurotransmission-related mRNAs in the cochlea Hearing Research. 346, pp.71-80.
5 Scientific paper. Lamas, V.; Estévez, S.; Pernía, M.; Plaza, I.; Merchán, M.A.2017. Stereotactically-guided ablation of the rat auditory cortex, and localization of the lesion in the brain Journal of Visualized Experiments. 2017-128.
6 Scientific paper. Pernia, M.; Estevez, S.; Poveda, C.; Plaza, I.; Carro, J.; Juiz, J.M.; Merchan, M.A.2017. c-Fos and Arc/Arg3.1 expression in auditory and visual cortices after hearing loss: Evidence of sensory crossmodal reorganization in adult rats Journal of Comparative Neurology. 525-12, pp.2677-2689.
7 Scientific paper. Lamas, V.; Arévalo, J.C.; Juiz, J.M.; Merchán, M.A.2015. Acoustic input and efferent activity regulate the expression of molecules involved in cochlear micromechanics Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. 8-JAN.
8 Scientific paper. Merchán, M.A.2015. Neurotology and cochlear implants [Neurotología e implantación coclear] Revista de Neurologia. 60-9, pp.413-419.
9 Scientific paper. Verde, G.; García-Ortiz, L.; Rodríguez, S.; Recio-Rodríguez, J.I.; De Paz, J.F.; Gómez-Marcos, M.A.; Merchán, M.A.; Corchado, J.M.2013. Altair:Automatic image analyzer to assess retinal vessel caliber Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing. 226, pp.429-438.
10 Scientific paper. Lamas, V.; Alvarado, J.C.; Carro, J.; Merchán, M.A.2013. Long-Term Evolution of Brainstem Electrical Evoked Responses to Sound after Restricted Ablation of the Auditory Cortex PLoS ONE. 8-9.
11 Scientific paper. Merchán, M.A.; Saldaña, E.; Oliver, D.L.2012. Auditory neuroanatomy: A sound foundation for sound processing Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. NOV.
12 Scientific paper. Clarkson, C.; Herrero-Turrión, M.J.; Merchán, M.A.2012. Cortical auditory deafferentation induces long-term plasticity in the inferior colliculus of adult rats: Microarray and qPCR analysis Frontiers in Neural Circuits. OCTOBER 2012, pp.1-32.
13 Scientific paper. Clarkson, C.; López, D.E.; Merchán, M.A.2010. Long-term functional recovery in the rat auditory system after unilateral auditory cortex ablation Acta Oto-Laryngologica. 130-3, pp.326-332.
14 Scientific paper. Clarkson, C.; Juíz, J.M.; Merchán, M.A.2010. Long-term regulation in calretinin staining in the rat inferior colliculus after unilateral auditory cortical ablation Journal of Comparative Neurology. 518-20, pp.4261-4276.
15 Scientific paper. Clarkson, C.; Juíz, J.M.; Merchán, M.A.2010. Transient down-regulation of sound-induced c-Fos protein expression in the inferior colliculus after ablation of the auditory cortex Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. OCT.
16 Scientific book or monograph. De Castro, F.; Merchán, M.A.2016. Editorial: The major discoveries of cajal and his disciples: Consolidated milestones for the neuroscience of the XXIst century Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. 10-OCT.
17 Scientific book or monograph. Cajal and de Castro’s neurohistological methods. Ed by: Merchán, M.A; De Felipe, J; De Castro, F. 2016.Oxford University Press. ISBN:978-0-19-022159-1.
18 Scientific paper. Díaz, I., Colmenárez-Raga, A. C., Pérez-González, D., Carmona, V. G., Plaza Lopez, I., and Merchán, M. A. (2021). Effects of Multisession Anodal Electrical Stimulation of the Auditory Cortex on Temporary Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in the Rat. Front. Neurosci. doi:10.3389/fnins.2021.642047
Participation in R&D and Innovation projects
1 Búsqueda de nuevos biomarcadores moleculares para la detección de la epilectogénesis. Consejería de Educación JCYL. Mª Dolores Estelita López García. (Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León). 2021-2023. 264.000 €. Team member.
2 Proyecto SAF2016-78898-C2-2-R, Una combinación de estimulación transcraneal y otoprotección como nueva perspectiva para el tratamiento de sorderas neurosensoriales. ministerio de economía y competitividad. Miguel Merchán Cifuentes. (Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León). 30/12/2016-29/12/2019. 70.000 €. Principal investigator.
3 SA070P17, Sustrato molecular de las crisis epileptogénicas en el modelo GASH:SAL Junta Castilla y León- FEDER. María Dolores López García. (Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León). 10/11/2017-30/10/2019. Team member.
4 05.22.467B01.44028.5, Centro en red de medicina regenerativa y terapia celular de Castilla y León CENTRO DE ACUSTICA APLICADA Y EVALUACION NO DESTRUCTIVA; GERENCIA REGIONAL DE SALUD DE CASTILLA Y LEON. Manuel Sánchez Malmierca. (Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León). 01/09/2017- 30/09/2018. 32.000 €. Team member.
5 BFU2012-39982-C02-01, Papel de la corteza cerebral en la reorganización plástica del colículo inferior tras sordera experimental temprana reversible Ministerio economía y competitividad. (Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León). 01/09/2011- 01/09/2014. 52.650 €. Principal investigator.
6 PID2020-117266RB-C21, CORTICAL NEUROMODULATION AS A THERAPY TO DELAY AUDITORY AGING: PROOF OF CONCEPT AND MECHANISMS. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. (Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León). Coordinated Project 1/9/2021 – 1/1/2024. 326.700 €. Principal Investigator and coordinator of the Project.
Patents
J. M. Corchado; G.Verde; P. Chamorro; M. Merchán. SA – 283-14. Altair (Automatic Image analizer to asses