Maria G. Castro, Ph.D. Recognized by Worldwide Branding for Excellence in Neurosurgery

    ANN ARBOR, MI, June 19, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Maria G. Castro, Ph.D., R. C. Schneider Endowed Professor of Neurosurgery for the University of Michigan Medical School, has been recognized by Worldwide Branding for showing dedication, leadership and excellence in neurosurgery.

Dr. Castro has amassed more than 20 years of professional experience in her field, making a name for herself as a luminary in neurosurgery. She has spent the past three years serving as the R. C. Schneider Endowed Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Michigan Medical School. She specializes in cell and developmental biology and immunotherapy, and in her role, she is in charge of leading research teams comprised of doctors, professors, technicians and graduate students that work to develop new therapies for brain cancer. Dr. Castro also teaches medical students and undergraduate students in cancer biology, specifically the use of genes to treat diseases. In addition, she is responsible for leading discussion groups on ethical scientific medical conduct.

Prior to joining the University of Michigan's Medical School, Dr. Castro served for a year as a lecturer at the Department of Molecular and Life Sciences at the Dundee Institute of Technology; she was also a lecturer in Neuroscience at the Department of Physiology at the University of Wales College of Cardiff, a Senior Lecturer in Molecular Medicine (with tenure) at the School of Medicine of The University of Manchester, and a Co-Director of the Molecular Medicine and Gene Therapy Unit at the School of Medicine of the University of Manchester.

She then spent 10 years in Los Angeles and during that time served as the Co-Director, Board of Governors, Gene Therapeutics Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA and Professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, (UCLA) Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Dr. Castro's research program aims to develop immunotherapies for primary and metastatic brain cancer, studying basic immune-biology mechanisms leading to clinical implementation. She is investigating the role of the tumor immune-microenvironment in tumor progression and response to therapeutics; crosstalk between cancer cells and hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, and mechanisms affecting the migration of immune cells from peripheral lymphoid organs to the tumor microenvironment. Her innovative work has led to an FDA approved gene therapy Phase 1 clinical trial for malignant brain cancer which started at the University of Michigan in 2013.

Upon reflecting on a rewarding career, Dr. Castro attributes her success to her passion, hard work, drive and determination. She became involved in her profession because she has always loved academics, specifically health and science. She was interested in clinical research and biochemistry.

Dr. Castro completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology of the Department of Biochemistry and Physiology at the University of Reading. She also completed an Advanced Fellowship as a Fogarty International Visiting Research Fellow of the Laboratory of Neurochemistry and Neuro-immunology at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of theNational Institutes of Health. She completed a Fellowship through the Institute for Endocrine Studies at the School of Medicine of the National University of Argentina at La Plata, and earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the School of Biological Sciences at the National University of La Plata. She also holds a Master of Science in Educational Technology from the School of Biological Sciences at the National University of La Plata, a Master of Science in Biochemistry from the School of Biological Sciences at the National University of La Plata, and a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Chemistry from the School of Biological Sciences at the National University of La Plata at Argentina. She is a member of the British Neuroscience Association of Bristol, Women in Neuroscience, based in London, the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C., and the American Society for Cell and Gene Therapy. She is a founding member of the International Society of NeuroVirology, USA, and a member of Women in Technology in Europe, (WITEC) of Sheffield, UK, the European Society of Gene Therapy of Paris, France, and the American Association for Cancer Research of Philadelphia, PA.Moreover, Dr. Castro belongs to the American Society for Microbiology of Washington, DC, the Society for Neuro-Oncology of Houston, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Immunologists, of Bethesda, and the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer.

Dr. Castro has garnered a reputation of distinction and prominence over the years, earning the title of Worldwide Who's Who Top Female Professional in 2014, the R. C. Schneider Endowed Professor of Neurosurgery, the Breakout Session Chair and Moderator through the 'Opportunities and Challenges of Nanomedicine in Neuro-Oncology' BioInterfaces Institute meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2013, and induction into the Program Organizing Committee of the American Society of Cell and Gene Therapy from 2011 to 2013. Her biography was included in the 2010-2011 Edition of Sutton Who's Who in North America as an Elite Healthcare Honored Member, as well.

For more information about University of Michigan Medical School, visit http://www.linkedin.com/pub/maria-castro/32/a67/a88.

About Worldwide Branding
For over 15 years, Worldwide Branding has been the leading, one-stop-shop, personal branding company, both in the United States and abroad. From writing professional biographies and press releases, to creating and driving traffic to personal websites, our team of branding experts tailor each product specifically for our clients needs. We are dedicated to empowering our 600,000 clients with effective branding tools to help them achieve success. From healthcare to finance to education and law, our constituents represent every major industry and occupation, at all career levels.

An international company, we provide our members with access to members in over 52 countries including, the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, South Africa, Belgium, Mexico, Italy, Brazil, Sweden and The United Arab Emirates, just to name a few.

For more information, please visit http://www.worldwidebranding.com.

# # #