Personal profile
- 2017-present: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh
- 2014-2016: Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Edinburgh
- 2014: Embryology Course student, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
- 2008 - 2013: PhD in Developmental Neurobiology, BRAINSHARK group, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- 2007 – 2008: Postgraduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- 2001-2007: Bachelor’s Degree in Biology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- 2005-2007: Specialization in Molecular Biology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- 2004-2005: Specialization in Biotechnology and Genetics, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Other roles:
Member of Biomedical Sciences Opportunities Committee (BSOC)
Member of George Square Postdoctoral (G2PD) Committee
Early Career Reviewer for Elife Journal
Preprint pool of selectors for Prelights (The Company of Biologists)
https://prelights.biologists.com/profiles/idoia-qu/
Students supervision: 1 PhD student, 4 master students, 1 honours student

Research
I am a developmental neurobiologist (with background in evo-devo) interested in understanding how our brains form during embryonic development.
I have experience and interest in brain embryonic development of different species, from sharks to humans and I am fascinated about their similarities and uniqueness. My brain areas of expertise are the telencephalon and the diencephalon, the embryonic structures that give rise to adult structures such as the cortex, thalamus or basal ganglia.
I believe that only through the study of evolution we will be able to achieve a full understanding of any biological process including, of course, the incredibly complex task of creating an adult brain from a limited starting number of progenitor cells.

In my current project I am using human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to investigate potential developmental causes of autism spectrum disorder.
Techniques:
Transcriptomics: Single cell and bulk RNAseq
Bioinformatics
Human induced pluripotent stem cell culture
In vitro differentiation (2D/3D) of inhibitory and excitatory neurons
Embryonic brain slice culture and heterotypic explant assays
Axon guidance assays
Tract-tracing techniques (DiI, Neurobiotin)
Cell cycle analysis (BrdU, EdU)
Luciferase assays
Immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, qPCR, general histology
Experimental models:
Relevant publications
Book chapter:
Rodríguez-Moldes, I., Santos-Durán, G.N., Pose-Méndez, S., Quintana-Urzainqui, I., Candal, E., (2017). The Brains of Cartilaginous Fishes. In: Kaas, J (ed.), Evolution of Nervous Systems 2e. vol. 1, pp. 77–97. Oxford: Elsevier.
Journal cover:
Development cover (Volume 143 (5) March 2016) http://thenode.biologists.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/5.jpg