Distinguished Cajalian | The scientist who rescued the women of the Cajal School from oblivion
Distinguished personality for their exceptional contribution to science and the dissemination of the Cajal Legacy.
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Contribution to the Cajal Legacy: Elena Gine has carried out an unprecedented act of historical justice. By immersing herself in the archives and dusting off old records, she has succeeded in documenting and bringing to light the stories of the women scientists who worked with Cajal (such as Laura Forster and Manuela Serra), demonstrating that the Nobel laureate was not a solitary genius surrounded by men, but rather a pioneer in integrating women into the laboratory. Her work, embodied in the acclaimed book “The Women of the Cajal School” (“Las mujeres de la Escuela Cajal”), has forever changed our understanding of the history of Spanish neuroscience, giving a face and a name to the invisible pioneers.
Lecture Topics:
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Cajal’s Forgotten Women: The history of the first women neuroscientists in Spain.
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Brain and Gender: Past and present of women in biomedical research.
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Cannabinoids and Neurogenesis: (Her current biological research).
Elena Gine Dominguez holds a PhD in Biology and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cell Biology at the Faculty of Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM).
As an active scientist, her research focuses on the cannabinoid system and its involvement in neurogenesis and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington’s Disease.
However, her contribution to the historical legacy is unique: she led the research team that recovered the memory of the “women neuroscientists of the Cajal School.” Thanks to her documentary rigour and historical sensitivity, we now know that Cajal actively trained women at a time when science was closed to them. She is co-author of reference works and curator of exhibitions that have taken this “new history” throughout Spain, inspiring scientific vocations in girls and young women.
