About

I'm Itzia Ferrer, a tropical fluke living in the Nordic forest, and passionate about how the brain works.

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I'm a neuroscientist by training and a scientific communicator at heart. My master's degree at UNAM (México) was in the interaction of the immune and central nervous system, including research projects on obesity, inflammation and dementia. Followed by a PhD in genetics, immune system and motor disease, at Lund University (Sweden). My research was about a polymorphism in an immune system's regulator and affecting the inflammation in the brain and the risk to develop a neurodegenerative disease.

The bed stories told to me as a child made me fall in love with genetics, the brain, and the immune system. How the brain and the immune system allow us to interact with the world in which we live; the brain tries to understand it, make sense of it and the immune system defends us against harmful agents.

Since then I have been fascinated by how our unique genetic narrative affects how our brains and immune systems are built. Impacting our propensity and resilience to diseases.

During my academic training I have had the opportunity to be involved in different science communication projects as a workshop facilitator for children, students, and patients.  These projects have allowed me to integrate my love for  the brain and communicating science, and start scientific conversations between different audiences.

A dendrite is a tree branch-like extension of a neuron that allows  it to create new synapses and receive information. Dendrites branch as they move towards their tips, just like tree branches do.

Digital Dendrites is my way to create branches that promote an accessible understanding of current scientific brain research through science communication and poetry.

Thank you for visiting, and I hope you enjoy it.

Itzia