Women’s Voices: Elba Molpeceres
This month in Women’s Voices, Sara Carracedo meets Elba Molpeceres, a Spanish PhD student at the IMN. Elba began her academic path in Madrid, where she studied biochemistry, and later she spezialized in Neuroscience at the University of Bordeaux. After completing her Master’s internship at the University of Oxford, she returned to Bordeaux for pursing her PhD, where she works on Parkinson’s Disease. In this interview, she shares her academic journey and opinions about some challenges women face in science. Do you want to know more? The floor is yours, Elba.
Sara Carracedo: Could you start by sharing a bit about yourself and your academic journey?
Elba Molpeceres: My name is Elba, I am 25 years old and I am from Madrid. My journey in science started during my Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at the “Universidad Autónoma de Madrid”. During this degree, I completed several summer research internships in different fields of science, in order to discover what I enjoyed more. I found myself increasingly drawn to Neuroscience, that is why I decided to do my Master in Neuroscience at the University of Bordeaux. I decided to complete my masters abroad to satisfy a need for overseas experience and because I believe it is really positive to immerse yourself in different scientific environments. Following this idea, I left Bordeaux to do my Master thesis internship at the University of Oxford, where I continued to explore different ways of approaching science, in an incredibly rich place in terms of culture and ways of thinking. At this point, my focus in Neuroscience was to contribute to the search for therapies for neurodegenerative diseases in order to make a meaningful impact on the lives of those affected by these debilitating conditions. That is why I decided to return to Bordeaux and pursue my PhD at the IMN to focus on Parkinson’s Disease.
What area of research are you currently focused on, and what impact do you hope your work will have?
My PhD project is focused on the subthalamocortical pathway and its contribution to the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s Disease. More specifically, the project is focused on studying the involvement of this pathway on parkinsonian motor and nociceptive symptoms. Motor symptoms have been more studied and addressed in terms of therapies; however, pain is a predominant symptom in this disease, being present in up to 85% of the patients, but this symptom still lacks efficient treatments. We are therefore investigating the potential beneficial effect for the treatment of these symptoms by modulating activity in the subthalamocortical pathway. With this project we hope to contribute to the understanding of the alterations of the circuitry that occur during Parkinson’s Disease, and to potentially open the window to new therapeutic avenues.
You’ve been awarded several prestigious grants along the way. Could you highlight some of them and what they’ve meant for your career?
The first recognition I received was a grant to cover the costs of my first year of bachelor studies, awarded for academic excellence during the two final years of high school. Later, my first pursuit of international experience during a summer internship in Stockholm was supported by an Erasmus+ mobility grant. I am also a FENS (Federation of European Neuroscience Societies) awardee, since they granted me with their FENS Exchange Grant (now FENS/IBRO-PERC Exchange Fellowships Programme) to enable me to conduct my research in Oxford. At the end of my master’s program, I was honored as Major, top student of the Master in Neuroscience class 2022. More recently, I have been awarded a prize for the best oral presentation at the IMN Scientific Day 2024, where I presented my PhD results to the institute. These recognitions and grants have been a source of motivation and satisfaction for the acknowledgement of all the hard work.
As a member of the NeuroPIC, which initiatives do you find most impactful or significant?
I consider all of the initiatives to be of essential importance to reach our objectives within the Neurocampus. However, I think a particularly successful idea was the Extended PhD seminar in the context of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, together with the Marian Diamond Prize. The idea of this prize is to recognize the outstanding achievements in Neuroscience of early career female researchers, who often do not receive the recognition or professional opportunities that they deserve. The fact that this prize was announced during the PhD seminar centered around the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, helped to increase its visibility and significance, as reflected by the high numbers of attendees at the event. During the event there were also two very inspiring talks by Violetta Zujovic and Tara Spires-Jones who provided their vision on how to reach gender equity in science and about their journeys in Neuroscience as women. These events and talks are really necessary for raising awareness, and in the case of this specific occasion I hope for it to have had the desired effect on our colleagues and teammates.
Shifting from the academic path towards a social perspective, does the lack of female principal investigators in your department influence your motivation or sense of belonging?
On one hand and inevitably, yes. The lack of female role models in science can significantly influence decisions of young girls to pursue scientific careers from the beginning, because it can make it difficult to visualize yourself in such roles. Similarly, the lack of representation of women can be demotivating during your scientific career. More specifically, the sometimes complete absence of female figures in positions of power and influence within institutes or departments can create the impression that these roles are still not achievable for women, perhaps favoring other professional decisions and perpetuating the gender gap in science.
However, I would not say it affects my sense of belonging to the scientific community. The barriers women face are not a reflection of our potential, and it is not our capacities or abilities as women that prevent us from being more represented or from reaching those leadership positions; but rather a systemic issue that requires change. Women have as much to offer in science as male scientists do, but they have to be given the opportunities to be there, to prove themselves and to advance in their careers. I think this is the most important message, that women do belong in science.
Have you ever noticed women underrepresentation during conferences or scientific networking events?
As of today, I haven’t noticed significant differences in how men and women researchers are treated in this type of event. I think lately there are increasing efforts being made by institutions and organizers to decrease the underrepresentation of women for example as keynote speakers or awardees in conferences. I believe the scenario is improving in this sense.
Do you have any advice you would like to give to other early career women who wish to pursue a PhD?
My main advice would be to focus and work hard towards their objectives, always keeping in mind what I mentioned before: as women, we belong in science. Nothing is granted of course, and success requires dedication and perseverance, and you also need to be prepared to fight for your opportunities and learn to advocate for yourself. But you can also always look for additional help in mentorship and I consider it essential to have a supportive network. Additionally, learning to raise your voice against clearly discriminatory situations is vital. When you speak out you are not only defending your own position, but you also contribute to achieving this equality for future generations of women in science.
Women’s Voices is an interview published in Brainstorm and on Neurocampus’ website created in partnership with the Neurocampus Parity and Inclusion Committee (NeuroPIC) a local group committed to promoting equality and organizing actions to close the gap between women and men in academia. The goal of this section is to increase the visibility of early career female researchers at the Bordeaux Neurocampus of the University of Bordeaux. We interview researchers about their scientific contributions, insights and opinions about equity, diversity and gender bias in academia. Through these interviews, we aim not only to highlight their achievements but also to serve as inspiration for our scientific community and other female scientists.
Last update 07/03/25