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Part three of this occasional series takes us to Bilbao and to the lab of Arkaitz Carracedo, where ESR 6, Parastoo Shahrouzi is based. The Lab specialises in cancer cell signalling and metabolism, specifically looking at  the contribution of cell metabolism to cancer cell biology and how can we use it for therapy? Currently, the Carracedo lab is composed of 9 people, including 3 postdocs, 2 PhD students, 1 bioinformatician and 3 technicians. This team of work contributes with very different perspectives, from stem cell work to nutrition, and therefore fully supports the  multidisciplinary efforts of the TRAIN programme.


We asked Arkaitz and Paris what makes them tick.

1) What is one thing you couldn’t live without?

Paris:  Music

Arkaitz: Family

2) What do you like best about working in the TRAIN programme?

Paris: Networking

Arkaitz:  The joint objective to build on knowledge

3) Where/when are you happiest?

Paris: In my favorite concerts

Arkaitz : With my kids

4) What are your three most overused words/phrases?

Paris: No way! I can imagine, Awesome

Arkaitz: Let´s do it!  Attitude, Motivation

5) What’s your favourite drink?



6) What was the last concert/gig you attended?

Paris: Muse, in Bilbao.

Arkaitz:  Uff… has been a long time. I traded concerts for cinema

7) Dog, cat or other?

Paris: Cat

Arkaitz: Cat

8) Best place you have visited

Paris: Paris, France

Arkaitz: Rome, Italy

9) Worst place you have ever visited?

Paris: I love all places

Arkaitz: Every place has something special

10) Best thing about where you live?

Paris: The sea!

Arkaitz: Having family close-by, being able to walk everywhere

11) Best thing about where you work?

Paris: The teamwork

Arkaitz: The possibility to see something no one saw before

12) What would be the title of your autobiography?

Paris: The Warrior

Arkaitz: A life forged by passion, hard work and and the right amount of luck.

13) If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

Paris: To play a new instrument

Arkaitz: Probably music, it is indeed a mysterious powerful language

14) What is your most hated chore?

Paris: Washing dishes

Arkaitz: Washing lettuce

15) What three things could the world do without?

Paris: Plastic, war, poverty

Arkaitz:  Self-interested leaders, Short-sided nature damaging attitudes, Bad faith

16) Science is great because…?

Paris: It makes a difference in the world

Arkaitz: It is much like art. It depends on your motivation and creativity, and the way you look into the world

17) What is the closest thing to real magic you have seen?

Paris: My life to date.

Arkaitz: The smile of my kids making my neurons to fire serotonin

18) What film/movie do you never tire of watching?

Paris: Remember Me

Arkaitz: Inside out

19) What is the most useful skill you’ve gained so far in your PhD project?

Paris: Team work.

Arkaitz: The capacity to listen and integrate concepts into something unexpected

20) What scares you?

Paris: Heights

Arkaitz: Failure.