Marcos Nahmad is group leader in the Department of Physiology, Biophysics, and Neurosciences at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Cinvestav) in Mexico City. His group works on fundamental questions regarding how global (organ-level) information is interpreted at the local (cellular level) during animal development. Particularly, his research programme aims to understand how cells respond to signalling cues to reach a final size and how patterning, cell proliferation, and cell recruitment are coordinated to orchestrate organ growth and morphogenesis. These problems are addressed using tools from developmental genetics, molecular biology, image processing, and mathematical modelling. In addition, to his research he is deeply interested and involved in science education and promotes active learning in higher education projects.