By Professor Luis Sobreva
Luis Sobrevia is a Chilean physiologist with training in biology, physiological sciences, medical physiology, vascular pathophysiology, and university teaching. He is Professor of Molecular Physiology and Medicine at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Honorary Professor at several international universities, and Director of the Cellular and Molecular Physiology Laboratory. He is Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, the Physiological Society, and the IUPS Academy of Physiology, and an elected member of the Academy of Sciences of Latin America. He holds major editorial and international leadership roles, including IUPS Representative to the Americas, co-Chair of the ISC Regional Focal Point for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Director for Central and South America of the Preterm Birth International Collaborative. His research focuses on altered fetoplacental vascular function in pregnancy disorders, including gestational diabetes, gestational diabesity, preeclampsia, and maternal obesity.
We spoke to Luis as part of our 150 Voices of Physiology series, about his career and his hopes for the future of physiology,
Motivation
What first inspired you to go into physiology or your area of research?
My first inspiration came from the possibility of understanding life not as a collection of isolated events, but as an integrated and dynamic system. Physiology offered me a way to connect molecules, cells, tissues, organs and the whole organism, and to ask how biological function is maintained, challenged and adapted. From the beginning of my career, I was attracted by the excellence and intellectual rigour of physiology: its capacity to explain complex biological phenomena with mechanistic clarity, while remaining deeply connected to human health and disease.
Can you share a project you’ve worked on that you’re especially proud of?
I am especially proud of my PhD and postdoctoral projects, because they shaped the scientific questions that have guided much of my career. These projects allowed me to explore vascular physiology, endothelial function and membrane transport mechanisms in depth, and helped me understand how cellular processes contribute to systemic physiology. They also gave me the foundations to later develop research lines focused on human pregnancy, gestational diabetes mellitus, foetoplacental vascular dysfunction and the interaction between maternal metabolic health and placental endothelial biology.
Who or what has inspired you most during your career?
I have been deeply inspired by my mentors, particularly professors JD Pearson, GE Mann and DL Yudilevich at KCL, I Bravo at U Concepción and O Fuentes at U Bío-Bío (Chile). Each of them influenced my scientific development in a different but complementary way. They taught me the value of asking precise physiological questions, of maintaining experimental rigour, and of thinking beyond the immediate result to understand the broader biological meaning. Their example helped me appreciate that physiology is not only a discipline, but also a way of thinking critically about life, health and disease.
Why do you think physiology is such an important science today?
Physiology is essential today because many of the major challenges in health and disease cannot be understood through isolated mechanisms alone. Conditions such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, pregnancy complications and ageing are systemic phenomena involving multiple levels of organisation. Physiology provides the conceptual and experimental framework needed to understand these complex and integrated systems. At a time when biomedical research is increasingly specialised, physiology reminds us of the need to reconnect mechanisms with function, and molecular events with the whole organism.
Community / Society
How did you first get involved with the Physiological Society?
I first became involved with the Physiological Society as a PhD student at King’s College London. At that stage of my career, the Society represented a scientific community of excellence, where physiology was discussed with depth, rigour and international perspective. That early connection was very important for me, as it allowed me to feel part of a broader community committed to understanding biological function and advancing physiological science.
What impact has being part of the Society had on your career?
Being part of the Physiological Society has had a very positive impact on my career. It has opened opportunities for professional development, participation in high-level scientific meetings, and interaction with peers and leading researchers from different areas of physiology. These experiences have enriched my scientific vision, expanded my international networks, and reinforced my commitment to physiology as an integrative and essential biomedical science.
What do you value most about the Society’s community or its journals?
What I value most is the Society’s commitment to excellence, together with its openness and inclusiveness. The Society and its journals provide opportunities for physiologists from across the world, recognising talent and scientific quality without geographical or ethnic restrictions. This global perspective is essential, because physiology is a universal science, strengthened by diverse questions, contexts and contributions from researchers in all regions.
Looking Forward
What does “the future of physiology” mean to you?
To me, the future of physiology means an increasingly integrated, translational and human-centred science. Physiology must continue to connect molecular and cellular mechanisms with organ function, whole-body regulation and patient outcomes. This is particularly important in metabolic diseases and other complex conditions, where health and disease cannot be understood by studying isolated components alone.
Where do you hope to see the field — and the Society — 50 years from now?
In 50 years, I hope physiology will be recognised as the essential foundation for understanding the functional dynamics of biological systems. Advances in artificial intelligence, large-scale data analysis and new technologies will undoubtedly identify many new biological elements, patterns and associations. However, physiology will be needed to interpret what these discoveries mean in functional terms. I hope the Physiological Society will continue to lead this vision, promoting a future in which AI and human researchers work together as complementary forces, while ensuring that humanity, critical thinking and biological meaning are never lost.
What makes you most hopeful about the next chapter for physiology?
What makes me most hopeful is that physiology is becoming necessary again in a very profound way. As biomedical science becomes increasingly focused on molecules, datasets and computational predictions, there is a growing need to understand biological phenomena from a functional perspective. Physiology has the capacity to bring these elements together and explain how mechanisms operate in living systems. I believe physiology will be central to transforming fragmented discoveries into meaningful understanding.
What advice would you give to students or early career researchers starting out in physiology?
My advice would be to see physiology as a powerful integrative tool. Physiology allows us to connect knowledge across different levels of organisation and to understand the functional meaning of mechanisms, rather than seeing biological elements in isolation. Molecules, pathways, cells and organs are important, but their real meaning emerges when we understand how they work together. Physiology is integration, and that integrative vision is essential for the future of biomedical science. My advice will also be to never forget your tutors and full team that supported every step in your career.