Joan J. Guinovart

Biography

 Joan J. Guinovart is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Barcelona and Director Dr. Guinovart has served as President of the Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM) and the Confederation of Spanish Scientific Societies (COSCE). He is the current President of the International Union of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (IUBMB). Dr. Guinovart was elected to the Spanish Royal Academy and the Academia Europaea and has been recognized with the FEBS Diplôme d’honneur and the St. George’s Cross of the Government of Catalonia, among other distinctionsof the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona).  

Research Interest

  demonstrating that the endothelial lipase LIPG is an essential component of the mechanism that allows breast cancer cells to sustain high proliferation rates; describing a new regulatory mechanism of glycogen synthesis whose demise causes Lafora disease; showing that neurons have an active glycogen metabolism, but that glycogen accumulation is lethal for these cells and that it is at the basis of certain neurodegenerative diseases;  demonstrating that restoration of hepatic glycogen levels is an effective treatment for diabetes and obesity.