In Memoriam of Prof. Dr. Ricardo Insausti (Pamplona, 1954–Albacete, 2024)
Pilar Marcos Rabal 1, Mar Arroyo Jiménez 1, Ana M. Insausti Serrano 2 and Francesco Fornai 3
1 Human Neuroanatomy Laboratory, Regional Center for Biomedical Research (CRIB), School of Medicine, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02006 Albacete, Spain;
2 Human Neuroanatomy Laboratory, Public University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain;
3 Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
It is with great sadness that the whole editorial community of the journal Anatomia expresses profound condolences for the loss of Prof. Dr. Ricardo Insausti. He was a brilliant example of an academic neuroanatomist, deeply involved in the progress of anatomical education and neuroscience research. His passing has left us deeply saddened, as we mourn the loss of a kind friend, a respected academician, and a world-renowned scientist.
The Board of Anatomia shares in the grief of the family, the academic community of University Castilla La-Mancha, and the world anatomical community, which is diminished by the loss of Dr. Ricardo Insausti.
Figure 1. Dr. Ricardo Insausti. Courtesy of Diario Sanitario, Albacete, Spain
Dr. Ricardo Insausti was born in Pamplona (Navarra, Spain). He studied medicine and surgery at the University of Navarra and obtained his Ph.D. degree with a thesis on the trigeminal nerve under the supervision of Dr. Luis María Gonzalo. He completed his academic training with postgraduate stays in several European and North American universities, including the University of Rotterdam, Oxford University, University of Amsterdam, University of Tübingen, and University of California in San Diego, and several research centers, including the Salk Institute (La Jolla, San Diego) and the MIND Institute in Sacramento (California).
After a period of teaching at the University of Navarra as an Assistant Professor of anatomy, he joined the newly created Faculty of Medicine at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Albacete in 1998. He held a leadership position during the implementation of the degree as the Vice Dean and became the first professor of the faculty. This project was a challenge because it was a new system that was unprecedented in the country, where teaching was approached for the first time according to a vision of student-based learning.
Dr. Insausti achieved significant milestones in his life and scientific career. His work represents a reference both for the highest education level in human anatomy and embryology and for his research achievements in exploring the structure and function of the nervous system. He always adopted a multidisciplinary approach, representing an integrative perspective of human neuroscience. During this time, he formed a research group with significant collaborations with scholars from different areas and disciplines of neuroscience. His specific research efforts were dedicated to the Laboratory of Human Neuroanatomy, which was focused on the study of the limbic system and the temporal lobe. Dr. Insausti initiated important international collaborations, always seeking innovation and clinical application of the study of brain connections.
Throughout his life, Dr. Insausti contributed to the advancement of knowledge in systems neuroscience with numerous publications in high-impact scientific journals and book chapters that have been funded through regional, national, and international projects, most recently with the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA), which ranks eighth in the world. Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Insausti, Albacete now has a world reference brain bank to analyze specific brain regions through various techniques in depth.
Dr. Insausti was a passionate and tireless researcher of the nervous system, and he will be remembered as a leading figure in the study of early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and as a teacher to numerous generations of physicians and neuroscience researchers. With his death on 26 December 2024, the university and the scientific community have lost one of the leading experts in neurodegenerative disease research. Those of us who were fortunate enough to be close to him will remember him fondly and will miss him greatly.
We wish to thank Dr. Pilar Marcos Rabal, Dr. Mar Arroyo Jiménez, Dr. Ana M. Insausti Serrano and Dr. Francesco Fornai for sharing their memories and feelings.