About

Dr Luis Alarcon-Martinez

Principal Investigator, Head of Visual Neurovascular Research

Dr Luis Alarcon-Martinez investigates how blood is distributed in the retina to help prevent or treat retinal neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr Luis Alarcon-Martinez

Principal Investigator, Head of Visual Neurovascular Research

BSc, MSc, PhD

Dr Luis Alarcon-Martinez is Principal Investigator at CERA and Head of Visual Neurovascular research. His research focuses on how vascular dysfunction may contribute to neurodegenerative disorders and vision loss.

Dr Alarcon-Martinez has spent over a decade working in visual sciences and neuroscience in Europe, Canada, and the US. He has developed sophisticated technical skills, including innovative imaging set-ups and microsurgical skills to study retinal diseases such as glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and ischemic retinopathy.

Dr Alarcon-Martinez has an excellent publication record with a h-index of 23 and a total of 38 peer-reviewed publications, including articles in journals such as Nature, PNAS, eLife and Brain, letters, books and book chapters. He is also a reviewer for several scientific journals, including Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, PLOS ONE, and Circulation Research.

He has gained several distinctions, including the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Young Scientist, and the Best National Thesis in Ophthalmology (Spain; MSD-Merck Sharp & Dohme prize).

Key research questions

What are the mechanisms of neurovascular communication in the retina and brain?
How does vascular dysfunction affect the retina and brain?
How is neurovascular coupling regulated in retinal neurodegenerative diseases such as optic nerve neuropathy, glaucoma, and ischemic retinopathy?

Selected publications

Alarcon-Martinez L, et. al. (accepted). Pericyte dysfunction and loss of inter-pericyte tunneling nanotubes promote neurovascular deficits in glaucoma. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Alarcon-Martinez L, et. al. (2020). Inter-pericyte tunneling nanotubes regulate neurovascular coupling. Nature, 585(7823):91-95.

Alarcon-Martinez L, et. al. (2019). Retinal Ischemia Induces α-SMA-mediated Capillary Pericyte Contraction Coincident with Perivascular Glycogen Depletion. Acta Neuropathol Commun., 7(1):134.

Alarcon-Martinez L, et. al. (2018). Capillary pericytes express α-smooth muscle actin, which requires prevention of filamentous-actin depolymerization for detection. eLife, 7:e34861.