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Researcher

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Ramón Martínez-Máñez

Ramón Martínez-Máñez

Born in Valencia on April 11, 1963, Martínez Máñez is one of the national and international leaders in the field of chemical research.

Among other lines of research, his group at the IDM Institute of UPV works on the development of nanometric devices with “molecular gates” for the controlled release of drugs. The studied nanoparticles are capable of retaining a load within their pore system and delivering it upon receiving a chemical, physical, or biochemical stimulus. These particles have been used, for example, for the selective release of cytotoxins to eliminate cancer cells and bacteria, as well as for the release of specific drugs in senescent cells, and for the release of substances in food or agricultural applications.

Additionally, Martínez Máñez’s team is working on the development of molecular probes for the detection, through color and fluorescence changes, of biomedical and environmental elements of interest, such as certain biomarkers or cells, drugs, nerve gases, etc.

Among the multiple recognitions he has received prior to this National Research Award, in 2016 he was honored with the Research Excellence Award from the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ), and in 2018 with the Rey Jaume I Award for New Technologies.

Author of nearly 600 publications, Ramón Martínez Máñez has a prominent presence in the most significant journals in the field of multidisciplinary chemistry.

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Neus Ferrer-Miralles

Neus Ferrer-Miralles

Dr. Neus Ferrer-Miralles received her doctorate in Biology from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Barcelona) in 1995. She has over 20 years of experience as a molecular biologist in several research centers, including CrystaX Pharmaceuticals S.L. in Barcelona, the New York University Medical Center, and the Molecular and Structural Biology Institute of the CSIC in Barcelona. She also has two years of teaching experience at the Department of Health Sciences at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona.

In 2006, Neus joined the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where she is involved in teaching activities and research projects focused on the use of recombinant proteins as biotechnological tools. In 2007, she began her collaboration with the scientific service Protein Production Platform (PPP) as a scientific coordinator within CIBER-BBN, which transformed into the scientific-technical infrastructure ICTS-NANBIOSIS in 2014. Since 2012, she has served as the scientific director of the PPP, supporting projects from public and private research centers, companies, and hospitals in obtaining recombinant proteins for biomedical interest, diagnostics, and basic research, among other applications.

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Merce Márquez Martínez

Merce Márquez Martínez

Dr. Merce Márquez Martínez with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 1998, followed by a Ph.D. in Biochemistry-Biophysics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in 2003.
In 2003, she assumed responsibility for the Animal Tissue Bank of Catalonia (BTAC) at UAB. Alongside managing the repository of animal tissues, she specialized in veterinary neuropathology, resulting in several published works. From 2008, as a senior researcher at Priocat in CReSA-IRTA, she conducted studies in neuropathology associated with animal prion diseases. By 2010, she became the technical responsible of the Murine and Comparative Pathology Unit (UPMiC) at UAB, providing comprehensive histopathological diagnoses for laboratory animals.

Since 2016 she has been part of the Protein Production Platform (PPP) which is a scientific services laboratory of the UAB (PPP) and since 2014 it is part of the ICTS NANBIOSIS, this service is part of the Nanobiotechnology Group (NBT) at UAB and she is a member of CIBER-BBN. As technical coordinator she is specialized in producing and purifying recombinant proteins using diverse eukaryotic and prokaryotic expression systems.

As part of the Naobiotechonoloy group she is focused on designing, producing a purified proteins with the characteristics that are needed for later uses in research.

She has published 29 articles, 4 book chapters and 67 contributions to conferences and has co-directed a thesis. In 2015 she was accredited as lecturer teacher by the Agency for the Quality of the University System in Catalonia (AQU).

According to Scopus her scientific production include 34 publications, 18 ranked in Q1 and 7 of them ranked in D1, with 493 citations giving a h-index of 14.

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Antonio Villaverde

Antonio Villaverde

Antonio Villaverde has been a Professor of Microbiology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona since 2002. He is the leader of the Nanobiotechnology group at the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine and CIBER-BBN, as well as the leader of the consolidated research group in Catalonia on Innovative Biopharmaceuticals. Throughout his scientific career, he has published over 340 scientific articles in indexed journals, has been an author of a similar number of presentations at scientific conferences, and has supervised 25 doctoral theses. In 2002, he founded the journal Microbial Cell Factories, where he served as editor-in-chief for 15 years. He has received three Icrea Academia awards and the Narcís Monturiol Medal for scientific and technological merit. His research interests focus on the development of new nanostructured drugs for various applications, including cancer and regenerative medicine. In 2017, he co-founded the spin-off Nanoligent SL, which has licensed several patent families generated by his research group in recent years.

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Ana Paula Candiota

Ana Paula Candiota

Ana Paula Candiota, a member of the CB06/01/0010 CIBER-BBN group since its inception, holds a degree in Pharmacy obtained in 1997 in Brazil, her country of origin. Early on, she demonstrated a strong motivation for research, receiving three short-term scientific scholarships from the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI) as part of the Spain/Latin America exchange program. These opportunities allowed her to conduct research at prestigious scientific groups in Seville and Barcelona. In 1999, she joined the NMR Biomedical Applications group at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) to pursue her PhD, supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MCYT) until 2004. She completed her PhD in 2005. When her research group became part of the CIBER-BBN network, she was hired as a senior researcher from 2007 to 2023, during which time she secured a permanent teaching position at UAB and assumed leadership of the NMR Biomedical Applications Research Group.

The NMR Biomedical Applications Research Group focuses on the noninvasive assessment of therapy response, particularly in brain tumors, utilizing both anatomical (MRI) and biochemical (MRS/MRSI) approaches. The group also employs cutting-edge artificial intelligence techniques to decipher complex data. Under new leadership, the group is exploring additional research areas, such as changes in the tumor microenvironment that affect treatment response, and the potential for noninvasive detection of these changes. Preclinical models play a crucial role in validating these findings, and the investigation of new drug formulations and nanomedicine approaches remains central, serving as a precursor to translational advancements. This is a key strength of NANBIOSIS Unit 25, where Dr. Candiota serves as the scientific coordinator. Additionally, the study of novel contrast agents is an ongoing focus for the group.

Dr. Candiota’s main scientific contributions during her postdoctoral career include: i) noninvasive grading of human glial tumors based on different echo times and metabolic signals using MRS, ii) the development of a postmortem, MRI-based ex vivo method for rapidly studying novel contrast agents, providing a more reliable alternative to in vitro studies without the need for extensive preliminary tolerability studies, and iii) the identification of an immune-enhancing metronomic therapy schedule in glioblastoma-bearing mice, which was shown to induce changes in the tumor microenvironment favoring antitumor responses, with a particular focus on macrophage phenotypes. Her background in Pharmacy is a valuable asset in the investigation of new therapeutic approaches.

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