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Ana Maiquez shows at CNIO the transcraneal stimulation device developed by her company Neuroelectrics. Credit: Laura M. Lombardía.
At the age of 18, Ana Maiques (Valencia, Spain) "loved mathematics and wanted to make a positive impact on the world". Invited by the Office of Women and Diversity in Science (WISE), Maiques spoke at the CNIO about how her motivations as a teenager led her to become the founder of Neuroelectrics, a company devoted to develop innovative technologies for neuroscience.
Among Maiques’ messages, the importance of perseverance: “When you pursue your dreams, the path is very difficult. It doesn’t go in a straight line. You encounter failures, disappointments and mistakes…”.
Maiques studied economics and started working for an aerospace company in Brussels. As it went bankrupt, she and her husband, Giulio Ruffini, a mathematician and physicist, founded a satellite data analysis company, Star Lab. “Entrepreneurship is not a vocation you are born with, it is a decision you make in life and which involves the highest risk,” Maiques said at the CNIO.
This company did not experience the expected breakthrough, but chance opened another path. A neuroscientist asked Ruffini for help in interpreting EEG data for a study on alcoholism. And that’s how Maiques came to neuroscience as a way to help other people.
Electricity in the brain
After ten years of research, they developed a cap-shaped device with electrodes that pick up electrical signals from the brain. “The most fascinating thing is that any of those electrodes can inject electrical currents into the brain, so it’s a kind of non-invasive read/write system,” she explained. With Neuroelectrics, which Maiques leads as a CEO, they decided to apply transcranial stimulation to neurological diseases. In 2014 they moved to Boston (USA) for a first trial with 20 epilepsy patients. They are currently conducting a trial with 120 patients from several countries, including Spain. They are also investigating the use of this technique to treat depression and Alzheimer’s disease, and have obtained competitive funding from the European Research Council (ERC).
An entrepreneur with a great number of awards, Maiques stressed the importance of networking: it allows you “to have someone to call when you have doubts (and plenty arise when you run your company, you are very lonely up there)”.
Changing the rules of the game
In the United States, she realized that being a woman was a handicap when looking for financing. An expert told her that “if a woman’s project gets seed capital from women-led investment firms, her chances of getting a second round drop by 50%”. However, she assures that “if you go the extra mile to reach your goals, you can become a game changer”.
As for future challenges, Maiques was convinced that they will be solved with ” science and an ethical vision. Scientists and entrepreneurs have the potential to determine the ethics of what we do”.
And she emphasized her confidence in European research, although she believes that “Europe has to stand up and turn science into money. We put our tax money into science, and we have a responsibility to move that science into business and get that money back.”
The full lecture can be viewed here.