UNAM · PECEM (MD/PhD)
Introduction to Clinical Research
I teach Introduction to Clinical Research in the same MD/PhD program where I trained. The course introduces clinical research to future physician-scientists.
About me.
Gabo, beyond the job title.
I’m Gabriel, but you can call me Gabo. I’m a physician and neuroscientist, and I also like to sketch, build things, and figure out how they work.
The “too many tabs open” line is a pretty good introduction. Brain stimulation, AI, engineering, industrial design, hardware: I’m interested in all of them, and in what happens when they meet. This site is a place for those interests to sit together, from a research paper to a drawing or a Pokémon experiment.
Why I do what I do.
Medicine has always been a passion of mine. I had the chance to join the first cohort of PECEM at UNAM, Mexico’s first combined MD/PhD program. It was there that I began to see just how intricate the relationship between science and medicine really is.
I was particularly drawn to consciousness: how the brain creates our everyday experience. For my PhD, I chose to study conscious olfactory perception and the role of the orbitofrontal cortex. Smell felt like a promising model for those questions: an often-overlooked sense whose conscious experience seemed quite different from other sensory modalities.
During my PhD, I used brain stimulation and fell in love with its possibilities. Working with many patients with Parkinson’s disease, other movement disorders, and depression gave that interest a practical direction. I wanted to help make brain stimulation more affordable and accessible. That was the motivation behind cofounding Actipulse.
Actipulse was selected for Y Combinator’s Winter 2022 batch. YC is a startup accelerator that supports early-stage companies with funding, advice, and a global founder community; its alumni include Airbnb and Stripe. Being selected was a major milestone for us: YC funded 414 companies from 17,000 applications for our batch. I learned a great deal there about building a company and becoming a better founder and leader. YC’s Winter 2022 cohort
Today, I serve on Actipulse’s board of directors and advise the company on scientific and clinical questions.
Then came an unexpected turn. Our team found that a rather unconventional device we had built could open the blood–brain barrier in mice. That serendipitous finding led us to start Apertum, where I’m now the Chief Scientific Officer and cofounder.
Teaching.
Teaching has been part of my work across anatomy, physiology, clinical research, and neuromodulation.
Actipulse
Diplomado en Técnicas de Neuromodulación
I co-created this program with my team: the first diplomado on neuromodulation techniques taught entirely in Spanish.
The program covers the scientific foundations of neuromodulation, stimulation techniques, clinical evidence, safety and ethics, and critical discussion of cases.
Universidad del Valle de México
Anatomy & Physiology
I have also taught anatomy and physiology at Universidad del Valle de México, working with the foundations of how the human body is built and how it functions.
Daily life.
Away from work, I share my home with a very opinionated cat and a very large, unusually calm husky. There are also books, films, music, and plenty of rabbit holes to explore.
Mafalda
The cat. Affection on her terms.
Mafalda is grumpy, standoffish, and very selective about people. If you met her, you might think she was the worst cat in the world. With me, she’s intensely loyal and loving. We have a slightly toxic love–hate relationship, and I adore her.
Nala
The husky. Mostly on energy-saving mode.
Nala is a husky on a much bigger scale than most, with a gentle personality to match. She’s remarkably calm for her breed, rather lazy, and extraordinarily patient with other dogs, people, and cats. She does, however, make plenty of time to annoy her sister Mafalda.
Sketches from my photos.
Books & other rabbit holes.
My tastes are all over the place: comics, films, books, and music. I love music, even though I may be the least rhythmically gifted person in the world.
I also love studying philosophy, the history of religions, and Western esotericism. There’s plenty to keep me curious beyond the lab and the workbench.
Worth a watch.
A few YouTube channels I recommend, across science, philosophy, and the history of religion.
Veritasium
Science, experiments, and the questions behind how things work.
ESOTERICA
Western esotericism, from magic and alchemy to mysticism and philosophy, explored through scholarship.
Religion for Breakfast
Accessible explorations of religion through history and academic research.
Good work starts
with a conversation.
Have a research question, a project in mind, or an idea worth exploring together?