Women Neuroscientist Disciples of Pío del Río-Hortega: the Cajal School Spreads in Europe and South America

• Main Authors: Cristina Nombela, Emilio Fernández-Egea, Elena Giné, Yulia Worbe, Juan del Río-Hortega Bereciartu, Fernando de Castro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-05-01
• Series: Frontiers in Neuroanatomy
• Subjects: female neuroscientists; microglia; history of neuroscience; Spanish Neurological School; Amanda Pellegrino de Iraldi; Dorothy Russell
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnana.2021.666938/full

Pio del Rio-Hortega was not only the discoverer of the microglia and oligodendroglia but also possibly the most prolific mentor of all Santiago Ramon y Cajal’s disciples (Nobel awardee in Physiology or Medicine 1906 and considered as the father of modern Neuroscience). Among Río-Hortega’s mentees, three exceptional women are frequently forgotten, chronologically: Pio’s niece Asunción Amo del Río who worked with Río-Hortega at Madrid, Paris, and Oxford; the distinguished British neuropathologist Dorothy Russell who also worked with Don Pío at Oxford; and Amanda Pellegrino de Iraldi, the last mentee in his career. Our present work analyzes the figures of these three women who were in contact and collaborated with Don Pío del Río-Hortega, describing the influences received and the impact on their careers and the History of Neuroscience. The present work completes the contribution of women neuroscientists who worked with Cajal and his main disciples of the Spanish Neurological School both in Spain (previous work) and in other countries (present work).