Daniel Munoz-Espin

Group Leader in Cancer Early Detection. Funded by CRUK.

Daniel studied Biology and Molecular Biology at the Autonomous University of Madrid in Spain, where he also completed his PhD with cum laude honours within the Viral DNA Replication Group at the Centre of Molecular Biology Severo Ochoa (CMBSO), under the supervision of Dr Margarita Salas. During his PhD he also worked at Sir William Dunn School of Pathology (University of Oxford, UK) as a visiting student. He was then awarded an I3P Fellowship followed by a Spanish National Research Council Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research on DNA replication, resulting in several first- and/or corresponding authored papers. Based on his research, a patent was filed on a novel gene delivery system to Sygnis AG Pharma (2013). He then moved to the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) to Dr Manuel Serrano’s group, where his productive work cultimaned with two awarded grants: a Ramon y Cajal Programme Senior Grant and a National Programme Grant for Researched Aimed at the H2020 Societal Changes.

In 2016, he joined the Department of Oncology at the University of Cambridge as a Senior Research Associate and Principal Investigator as part of the Cancer Early Detection Programme of the Cambridge Cancer Centre. Some of his current funding sources include the MRC New Investigator Research Grant, the Royal Society Research Grant and the CRUK-OHSU Early Detection Grant. 

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Selected publications

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• Galacto-conjugation of Navitoclax as an efficient strategy to increase senolytic specificity and reduce platelet toxicity.
  E. González-Gualda†, M. Pàez-Ribes,†, B. Lozano-Torres,†, D. Macias, J. R Wilson III, C. González-López, H-L. Ou, S. Mirón-Barroso, Z. Zhang, A. Lérida-Viso, J. F Blandez, A. Bernardos, F. Sancenón, M. Rovira, L. Fruk, M. Serrano, G. J Doherty, R. Martínez-Máñez*, D. Muñoz-Espín*. 
  Aging Cell. 00:e13142, 2020.
   

• Targeting senescent cells in translational medicine.
  M. Paez-Ribes†, E. Gonzalez-Gualda†, G.J. Doherty, D. Muñoz-Espin. 
   EMBO Mol Med. 11:e10234, 2019.
   

• A versatile therapeutic strategy for drug delivery into senescent cells. 
  Muñoz-Espín D, Rovira M, Galiana I, Giménez C, Lozano-Torres, Paez-Ribes M, Llanos S, Chaib S, Muñoz M, Ucero AC, Garaulet G, Mulero F, Dann S, VanArsdale T, Shields DJ, Bernardos A, Murguía JR, Martínez-Máñez R, Serrano M. 
  EMBO Molecular Medicine. 2018 Jul;10(7)
   

• Robust, universal biomarker assay to detect senescent cells in biological specimens. 
  Evangelou K, Lougiakis N, Rizou SV, Kotsinas A, Kletsas D, Muñoz-Espín D, Kastrinakis NG, Pouli N, Marakos P, Townsend P, Serrano M, Bartek J, Gorgoulis VG. 
  Aging Cell. 2017 Feb;16(1):192-197.

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• An OFF-ON Two-Photon Fluorescent Probe for Tracking Cell Senescence in Vivo. 
  Lozano-Torres B, Galiana I, Rovira M, Garrido E, Chaib S, Bernardos A, Muñoz-Espín D, Serrano M, Martínez-Máñez R, Sancenón F. 
  J Am Chem Soc. 2017 Jul 5;139(26):8808-8811.
   

• Cellular senescence: from physiology to pathology. 
  Muñoz-Espín D, Serrano M.
  Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2014 Jul;15(7):482-96. 
   

• Programmed cell senescence during mammalian embryonic development. 
  Muñoz-Espín D, Cañamero M, Maraver A, Gómez-López G, Contreras J, Murillo-Cuesta S, Rodríguez-Baeza A, Varela-Nieto I, Ruberte J, Collado M, Serrano M. 
  Cell. 2013 Nov 21;155(5):1104-18.
  
   

Commentaries on his Cell paper

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• Cell biology: the beginning of the end. Campisi J. Nature. 2014;505:35-36. 

• A new development in senescence. Banito A, Lowe SW. Cell. 2013;155:977-978.

• Developmentally programmed senescence. Baumann K. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2013;15:4.

• The benefits of aging: cellular senescence in normal development. Pérez-Garijo A, Steller H. EMBO J. 2014;33:99-100.

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