Isabel Palacios

Dr. Isabel Palacios is a Lecturer in Cell Biology at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), affiliated with the Nanchang School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, and a Visiting Scientist at the University of Cambridge. She leads the Palacios Lab, focused on understanding cell polarity, tissue biomechanics, and biophysical mechanisms in development using Drosophila and human organoid models. Her research bridges cell biology and physics to explore processes like cytoplasmic streaming, cytoskeletal dynamics, and the role of the Hippo pathway in stem cell fate decisions.

Dr. Palacios holds a PhD from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and has extensive experience in academic and collaborative research, including founding the DrosAfrica initiative to build African biomedical research capacity through fruit fly studies. She has secured funding from prestigious bodies like BBSRC, Wellcome Trust, and Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Her work spans interdisciplinary projects, such as investigating neuroepithelial development in 3D human organoids and studying age-related changes in germline stem cells. Current research themes include tissue mechanics in brain organoids and the interplay between mechanical forces and genetic pathways in developmental processes.

Dr. Palacios has supervised PhD students like Laila Al-Khatib and Beatriz Fernandez Fernandez and collaborates across institutions on projects involving microscopy, biophysics, and genetic analysis. Her lab’s facilities include advanced imaging tools supported by grants for confocal and light-sheet microscopy.