Dr. Francisco López Muñoz

Francisco López Muñoz (MD, PhD, DLitt)

Francisco López Muñoz (1964) holds a degree in Medicine and Surgery (1988), a PhD in Medicine (1993) (Doctoral Thesis titled “Effect of chemical denervation on the postnatal development of the pineal gland in rats,” cum laude), and an Extraordinary Doctorate Award from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). He is also a Doctor in Spanish Language and Literature (2015) (Doctoral Thesis titled “Psychotropic substances in Cervantine texts: Tracing the trail of Dioscorides by Andrés Laguna,” cum laude) from the University of Alcalá, and a specialist in Pharmaceutical Medicine (1996). He is also a graduate in Holocaust Studies from the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem (Jerusalem, Israel) (2016) and holds a diploma in Advanced National Defense Studies (CESEDEN) (2020). He was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Literature by the World Academy of Arts and Culture, affiliated with UNESCO (2021), and in Public Health by the CUGS University (Mexico) (2023).

Francisco López Muñoz is a Full Member of the Royal European Academy of Doctors (2015) and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in Salzburg (2019), a Lifetime Member of the World Academy of Arts and Culture, supported by UNESCO (2021), Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Cádiz (2015), the Royal Academy of Medicine of Eastern Andalusia (2019), the Royal Academy of Medicine of the Basque Country (2022), the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Seville (2022), the Academy of Pharmacy of the Valencian Community (2019), the Santa María de España Academy of Pharmacy of the Region of Murcia (2022), the Academy of Odontological Sciences of Spain (2024), the Royal Academy of History and Art of San Quirce (2017), the Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Humanities of Lanzarote (2024), the Academy of Military Sciences and Arts (2023), the Royal Academy of the Sea (2017), the Academy of Diplomacy of the Kingdom of Spain (2019), a Foreign Corresponding Member of the National Academies of Medicine of Colombia (2017), Venezuela (2017), Paraguay (2018), the Dominican Republic (2018), Bolivia (2020), Costa Rica (2022), Honorary Member of the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico (2024), and the National Academy of History and Geography of Mexico (2023). He is also a Board Member of the Institute of Manchego Studies (2017), a Member of the Spanish Chapter of the Club of Rome (2022), and, among other honors and distinctions, holds the Merit Cross (white badge) (2015), the Silver Cross of the Civil Guard (2022), and the Silver Medal for Merit in Civil Protection (blue badge) (2024) (Spain). He is a Commander of the Pontifical Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (2021) (Vatican City).

He began his academic, research, and management career at the Department of Cell Biology at the Faculty of Medicine of UCM (1988-1997), in the field of neurohistology, and later, since 1992, in the Pharmaceutical Industry (Juste, S.A.Q.F.), as Medical Director (1992-2009). From 1997, he worked in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Alcalá (UAH) as a honorary researcher (1997-2013), focusing primarily on neuropsychopharmacology and drug addiction. In 2011, he joined the University Camilo José Cela (UCJC) as an Accredited Pharmacology Professor, and in 2013, he obtained the ANECA accreditation as an Associate Professor. In 2014, the University Council issued a positive resolution granting an exemption for accreditation to the University Professor Body. He is currently a Full Professor of Pharmacology and Vice-Rector for Research and Science at UCJC (2019), Director of its International School of Doctoral Studies (2012), and President of the Research Ethics Committee (2016). He is also part of various committees and governing bodies of the University (Governing Council, Research Committee, etc.) and the SEK Educational Institution (Executive Council). In 2021, he was distinguished as an Honorary Professor of the Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia (Peru), and in 2023 as an Honorary Professor of the Catholic University of New Spain (Miami, USA), and an Honorary Professor of the Civil Guard (Spain).

He is currently a research member (Research Fellow) at the 12 de Octubre Hospital Research Institute in Madrid (since 2013), and at the Institute for Medieval and Golden Age Studies “Miguel de Cervantes” (IEMSO) at the University of Alcalá (since 2024). Between April 2015 and July 2020, he was a research member of the Portucalense Institute of Neuropsychology (INPP) at the Universidade Portucalense Infante Dom Henrique in Porto (Portugal). He is an expert evaluator for ANECA in its ACREDITA Programs for the Renewal of Initial Accreditation of Official Degrees and HOMOLOGA for the Homologation of Foreign Degrees (2014). From May 2018 to July 2020, he was a member of the National ANECA Commission for the Renewal of Accreditation of Doctoral Programs. He has been a member of the Constituent Assembly of the Conference of Directors of Doctoral Schools (CDED) (Alcalá de Henares, November 2013), and since then has been part of it. He has been a member of the CRUE (Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities) Sectoral Commission for Research, Development, and Innovation (R&D+i) since October 2019, and since July 2020, he has been a member of the Science and Technology Council of the Community of Madrid.

He has participated as an invited professor or director in more than 212 postgraduate and doctoral courses at various national and international academic centers, including coordinating the XVI, XVII, and XVIII Summer Courses at the University of Alcalá (Department of Pharmacology) between 1999-2002. He has also been part of the teaching team of the National Continuous Training Plan of the General Council of Official Colleges of Pharmacists of Spain (1998-2012), accredited by the Continuous Training Commission of the National Health System.

He has supervised 24 doctoral theses and is the director of another 5 in progress. He has participated in 52 funded research projects, including competitive calls (FIS, PNSD, CSD, ERASMUS), and holds a patent for new molecules for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (“New compounds with antioxidant capacity that combine the inhibition of monoamine oxidase and cholinesterase enzymes and interaction with histamine receptor 3, their preparation process, and pharmaceutical compositions containing them”) (2020), along with 7 other national, European, and North American patents under review. He currently has a positive evaluation from the CNEAI for four six-year research periods and has acted as an evaluator for projects and research groups for various European Agencies, such as UEFISCDI (Executive Agency for Higher Education and Research, Romania), HRB (Health Research Board Agency, Ireland), FWF (Austrian Science Fund, Austria), AEI (Spanish Agency for Research) – ANEP (National Agency for Evaluation and Prospective) of the Spanish Government, or ACSUG (Agency for Quality in the University System of Galicia, Xunta de Galicia), as well as private funding entities, such as Banco de Santander (Supera Covid-19 Fund).

He is the author/editor of 31 books/treatises and 798 scientific publications. Among the 16 treatises edited, the following stand out: “History of Psychopharmacology,” in three volumes, edited by Editorial Médica Panamericana, 2007 – and published in English by NPP Books, Arlington, USA, 2014; “Neurobiology of Depression,” in the prestigious Frontiers in Neuroscience series, 2012; “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Epidemiology, Treatment and Prevention,” edited by Nova Science Publishers, 2015; “Melatonin, Neuroprotective Agents and Antidepressant Therapy,” edited by Springer International, 2016; and “Melatonin: Production, Functions and Benefits,” edited by Nova Science Publishers, 2021. Among his 15 books, notable titles include “When Medicine Does Not Heal. The Role of Healthcare Personnel in Torture, Genocides, and Experiments Beyond Ethical Codes” (2016), “The Flight of Clavileño. Witches, Madmen, Potions, Drugs, Doctors, and Inquisitors in Cervantine Literature” (2017), “The Boat of Charon. The Long Historical Journey of the Human Soul through Thought, Science, and Medicine” (2020), and “The Blood of the Gorgon. A History of Vampirism through Psychology and Medicine” (2023), all published by Delta Publications. He has authored 241 book chapters related to psychopharmacology and other areas of pharmacology and neuroscience (54 of them in international editions), and has 236 publications in international journals and 282 in Spanish and Latin American journals. Of these, 194 have JCR-ISI impact factors, and 53 are in the first quartile (Q1) of their section. He has an H-index of 47 and a total Impact Factor of 526,297 (October 2024).

He has been the Director of the International Editorial Board of the collection “Humanidades Médicas: Cultura, Arte, Ciencia y Salud” (Delta Publicaciones, EDIBERUN, Editores Iberoamericanos Unidos, Madrid) since 2016, Director of the Publishing Service at Camilo José Cela University since 2020, a full member of ASEMEYA (Spanish Association of Medical Writers and Artists) since 2019, and a full member of the Ateneo de Ilugo (Santisteban del Puerto, Jaén) since 2021. He is or has been a member of 74 editorial boards, including prestigious journals such as European Journal of Pharmacology, Frontiers in Psychopharmacology, Current Psychopharmacology, and Cancers, and has acted as a reviewer/evaluator for 83 international journals in his field with a relative JCR quality index. He was responsible for the scientific review of the Spanish edition of the prestigious work Concise Guide to Drug Interaction Principles for Medical Practice: Cytochrome P450s, UGTs, P-Glycoproteins (2nd Edition), published by the American Psychiatric Association in 2003. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board of The Conversation Spain (2020), where he has contributed widely to scientific dissemination, with 87 articles published in major national and Latin American media (ABC, Cadena Ser, Huffington Post, BBC, El Español, Diario.es, El Plural, Público, National Geographic Spain, Nius, Diario de Navarra, La Voz de Cádiz, Nueva Tribuna, El Comercio de Gijón, Hoy de Extremadura, El Ideal de Granada, León Noticias, La Verdad de Murcia, Diario Sur, El Diario Vasco, Burgos Conecta, La Rioja, El Diario Montañés, El Norte de Castilla, El Correo de Vizcaya, Las Provincias de Valencia, La Nueva España, El Independiente de Granada, Diario Sanitario, Canarias 7, Lanza Diario de La Mancha, La Voz (Argentina), El Universo (Ecuador), Tele13 (Chile), Player 8 (Chile), El Mostrador (Chile), Infobae (Argentina), Diario de México, El Nacional (Venezuela), La Revista (Costa Rica), Prensa Libre (Guatemala), El Observador (Uruguay), El Deber (Bolivia), La Opinión (USA), El Universal (Mexico), El Comercio (Peru), La Voz (Argentina), The World News, Nach Welt, etc.).

He has been part of the Organizing and/or Scientific Committee of 42 congresses in the fields of pharmacology and psychiatry, including the XXVII SOCIDROGALCOHOL National Conference (Madrid, 2000) and the XXIX National Congress of the Spanish Society of Pharmacology (Alcalá de Henares, 2007). He has given 41 keynote speeches and presented 190 scientific communications at international and national congresses. In 2021, he delivered the 12th Annual “Honorio Delgado” Conference (Peru), and in 2024, the conference on the Day of the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Seville (RAMSE). He has been or is a member of various scientific societies, including ENA (European Neuroscience Association) (1991), IBRO (International Brain Research Organization) (1992), CINP (Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum) (2005), and CSA (Cervantes Society of America) (2014), as well as national and international networks such as the International Network for the History of Neuropsychopharmacology (INHN) (2014), the Red de Trastornos Adictivos (RedRTA) of RETICS (Thematic Cooperative Health Research Networks, Carlos III Health Institute, Ministry of Health and Consumption) (2016), and the Ibero-American Network of Universities Committed to Education in Human Rights and Inclusive Citizenship (2021). He was a member of the Public Policy and Ethics Committee of the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology for the European Union (1997), an expert and rapporteur for the Consensus Group of the Spanish Society of Psychiatry on Dual Pathology (2002-2003), and has been vice-president of the Scientific Criminology Association of Castilla-La Mancha since 2003. He was the curator of the “Ramón y Cajal, Science and Art” exhibition in Madrid (UCJC-CSIC, 2022).

He has received various awards and recognitions for his research work, including the Extraordinary Doctorate Award from the Complutense University (1994), the ATLAS Award for Neurosciences and Healthy Aging (2014), Research Awards from Camilo José Cela University (2014 and 2015), the In Memoriam Prof. Orozco Acuaviva Award from the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Cádiz (2015), the Philosophy and Letters Section Award from the Society of Co-owners (2016), the Humanities Award from the Royal Academy of Doctors of Spain (2016), the Royal and Illustrious Official College of Physicians of Seville Award from the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Seville (2016), and an Excellence Mention at the Research and Innovation Awards of the Healthcare Area V of the Health Service of the Principality of Asturias (2022). In 2023, he was recognized with the Social Initiative Award of Castilla-La Mancha. He has been a member of the Lectio Magistralis Doctor Andrés Laguna of the Lilly Foundation since 2016, an expert consultant and analyst for the International Center for Government and Political Marketing (CIGMAP) since 2020, a scientific advisor for the Ibero-American Ethics and Bioethics Committee (CIEB) since 2021, and was recognized as a “Champion” by the Center for Medicine after the Holocaust (CMATH), based in Houston, Texas (USA) (2016). He is a Founding Member and currently a Member of the Observation Committee of the Human Rights Observatory of Spain (ODHE) (2022), an Honorary Member of the Ghandi – Mandela Foundation (2023), and an Honorary Civil Guard (2024).

His main lines of research have focused on the field of Neurosciences: the neurobiological bases of drug addiction and dual pathology, drug interactions of psychopharmacological agents, the neurobiology of aggression, bibliometric techniques applied to neuropsychiatric disciplines, combination treatments in patients with depressive and psychotic disorders, the development of new molecules for neurodegenerative diseases, and the history of psychopharmacology and neuroscience (the psychopharmacological abuses committed during the Third Reich; the historical interpretation of the anatomical seats of the human soul; various aspects of the life and work of Santiago Ramón y Cajal; and the use of psychotropic agents in Cervantine literary texts and those of other Golden Age authors).

Extended CV