Professor Ernest Arenas has passed away

Ernest Arenas was born on June 13, 1962, in Lleida, Spain. Dr. Arenas studied medicine at the University of Barcelona, where he graduated in 1986. He continued as a doctoral student and completed his PhD on neurotransmission in the basal ganglia in 1991 at the University of Barcelona. The basal ganglia are affected in neurological diseases, particularly movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

At that time, molecular biology enabled new types of research in neuroscience. These technologies allowed for rapid and reliable mapping of gene expression within complex tissues, genetic engineering of cells, and many other new ways to study physiology and pathophysiology, leading to new insights into disease mechanisms. Ernest Arenas recognized these opportunities and joined one of the leading labs in Europe as a postdoctoral fellow, Håkan Persson’s research group at the Department of Molecular Neurobiology at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics (MBB), Karolinska Institutet. An important type of neurons that control the internal function of the basal ganglia are dopaminergic neurons in the brain. His postdoctoral work focused on mechanisms to protect these neurons through neurotrophic factors in animal models of Parkinson’s disease.

Replacement Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease 

Parkinson’s disease is a very common neurodegenerative disease. Therapies for Parkinson’s disease neither cure nor slow the disease. Clinical trials have shown that it is possible to transplant and replace brain cells lost to the disease with fetal cells, but this approach involves several technical and ethical challenges that limit its use. Dr. Arenas was incredibly foresighted and understood the potential of stem cell research even when it was in its infancy. He was convinced that knowledge about the development of dopaminergic cells could provide the necessary insight to recreate lost nerve cells for clinical use, leading to a curative therapy for Parkinson’s disease.

Pioneering Research on Dopaminergic Neurons 

In 1994, Dr. Arenas received a position as an associate professor from the Medical Research Council, and in 1998, he was appointed associate professor at Karolinska Institutet. Since 2002, he was professor of stem cell neurobiology. He remained at the Department of Molecular Neurobiology at MBB throughout his scientific career, conducting internationally leading research on the developmental processes of dopaminergic neurons. He used these insights to develop methods to reprogram human stem cells for cell replacement therapy for Parkinson’s disease. He contributed several groundbreaking discoveries, including identifying Nurr1 as a critical transcription factor that can reprogram cells to become dopaminergic, how astrocytes in the living brain can be redirected to become dopaminergic cells, and the creation of protocols for differentiating human pluripotent stem cells into dopaminergic cells for transplantation.

A Colleague Who Will Be Missed 

Dr. Arenas’ research stood out even as a young scientist; he received the award for best thesis at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona (Spain), in 1991. Over the years, he received many national and international awards, including the Juan Negrin award, INGVAR award, Wallenberg Scholar and project grants, European Research Council senior grants, Michael J. Fox Foundation, and several others. Dr. Arenas supervised 13 doctoral students and 35 postdoctoral fellows who have made strong careers in academic research and related professional fields.

As a young scientist during his postdoctoral training, he also had to take on responsibilities that were unusual at that career stage. Shortly after arriving at the Department of Molecular Neurobiology, his supervisor Håkan Persson passed away. In 1996, Dr. Arenas and Dr. Ernfors were appointed research group leaders at the Department of Molecular Neurobiology. With a shared vision of how to create a vibrant and exciting research environment, the division has been successful. Dr. Arenas leaves behind an internationally leading research environment, which today houses more than a hundred researchers.

In addition to his contributions to science and his local environment, Dr. Arenas was very active in academic commissions of trust, organizing several meetings and conferences, university advisory roles, co-director of strategic research at KI, head of MBB, and member of the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet.

Patrik Ernfors, Goncalo Castelo-Branco, Per Uhlén, Sten Linnarsson, Ulrika Marklund, Jens Hjerling-Leffler, Onur Dagliyan, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet

The Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics and the Unit of Molecular Neurobiology are organizing a gathering in memory of Ernest, that will take place at the coffee area of the C6 quarter at Biomedicum, Thursday 19th September at 13.00-15.00.