The Academia Joven de España celebrates the ceremony for the awarding of medals to the new full academicians
On 25 November last, the solemn ceremony for the Imposition of Medals on the new Full Academicians of the Academia Joven de España was held. This is the first time since its creation that this ceremony has been held to honour some of the most important young researchers in our country. Since the creation of the Academy in 2019, 30 researchers have joined the Academy, all of them outstanding in fields encompassing the main branches of knowledge.
Among the new academicians are the researchers of the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragon, INMA (CSIC- University of Zaragoza), Jesús Martínez de la Fuente, principal investigator of the Biofunctionalisation of Nanoparticles and Surfaces group and inventor of 6 licensed patents, and María Moros, recipient of a Starting Grant from the European Research Council endowed with nearly 2 million euros for the development of her research project, based on nanoparticles for biomedical applications, called SIROCCO.
In addition to the two INMA researchers, received medals of new Academicians of Number of the Young Academy of Spain 3 recipients of the Princess of Girona Award, 1 with the Rey Jaume I Award, 13 recipients of the prestigious grants from the European Research Council (ERC-Starting Grant and Consolidator), 9 members of the Global Young Academy and several researchers of the Ramón y Cajal Programme.
The event was opened by Prof. Dr. Javier García Martínez, President of the Young Academy of Spain, one of its founding Full Academicians. Afterwards, the welcome was given by His Excellency Mr. Antonio L. Doadrio Villarejo, President of the Royal National Academy of Pharmacy and His Excellency Mr. Jesús María Sanz Serna, President of the Institute of Spain and President of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, to then give way to the Academic Secretary of the corporation, Prof. Dr. Javier Martínez Moguerza, who summarised the activities that the Academy has carried out since its creation.
After the imposition of the medals, Dr. Cristina Blanco Sío-López and Prof. Dr. Estrella Díaz Sánchez gave a speech on behalf of their peers on their vision of the contribution of the Young Academy to the advancement of science in Spain.
Jesús Martínez de la Fuente is currently working on the project “Point-of-care tests for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2” (studies for the development of effective technologies for the diagnosis and early detection of SARS-CoV2), for the development of a rapid detection system for Covid19 that can give results faster than PCR. This project is part of the PTI Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform “Global Health” (funded by the CSIC and the AENA fund).
María Moros is developing the SIROCCO project. This project has received a Starting Grant of almost 2 million euros from the European Research Council. The project is based on developing tools based on magnetic nanoparticles to study the capacity of cells to detect external mechanical stimuli and transform them into biochemical signals. A better understanding of these mechanisms and the possibility of manipulating them externally could be of great use in regenerative medicine.
To carry out their multidisciplinary work, new laboratories have been installed, co-funded by the University of Zaragoza and the CSIC. These include a biosafety 2 (NBS2+) cell culture room. The reinforced security measures of this room will allow the work with SARS-CoV-2, which will facilitate, among other studies, the research on biosensors that is currently being developed at the INMA.
Jesús Martínez (first from the left) y María Moros (second from the left)
29/11/2021
