Santiago de Compostela, 25 January 2021- María José Alonso, Professor of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), has been recognized with the Burdinola Research Award, which has highlighted her outstanding work in the field of personalized and regenerative biomedicine in relation to nanomaterials and nanoparticles. The award ceremony was held today in the Paraninfo of the Faculty of Geography and History of the USC, and was chaired by the rector of the University of Santiago de Compostela, Antonio López.
Alonso’s research trajectory
María José Alonso is full professor of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC). From 2006-2010, she was the Vice-rector of Research and Innovation of the USC. She worked as a visiting scientist at University of Paris XI, (1986-87), at University of Angers, France (1989) and at MIT, US, during 1991-1992 and in 2012.
Her lab (https://www.usc.gal/grupos/mjalonsolab/) has 3-decades experience in the formulation of macromolecules, i.e. peptides, proteins, antigens, monoclonal antibodies and polynucleotides using polymer-based delivery systems, and has pioneered numerous discoveries in the field of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology and nanomedicine. María J. Alonso has coordinated several research consortia financed by the WHO, the Gates Foundation and the European Commission. She is the most cited author in Spain in the area of Pharmacy and Pharmacology and has been among the TOP TEN in Pharmacology (Times Higher Education international ranking, 2010) (H Index 94). Recently, she became part of the “Power List” of the most influential researchers in the field of Biopharmaceuticals (The Medicine Maker, 2020)
She has also been very active transferring her knowledge to industry. She is the inventor of 22 patent families, most of them licensed to industry and is part of 2 start-up ventures.
She has served the Controlled Release Society (CRS) for 15 years and has been President of the CRS (2017-19). She is also Editor-in-Chief of the Drug Delivery and Translational Research, an official journal of the CRS, and she is part of the editorial board of 12 journals.
She has received 36 awards, among them the ”Research and Education Excellence Medal” granted by the Spanish Government, the “Jaime I Award”, the “Castelao” Medal awarded by the Xunta de Galicia and other awards granted by scientific organizations and foundations. She is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and a Fellow of the Controlled Release Society, member of two academies in Galicia, the Royal Academy of Pharmacy of Spain (RANF), member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium and also member of the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM).
Burdinola Research Award
The Burdinola Research Award, created in 1994, aims to contribute to the recognition, appreciation and encouragement of the scientific community. Among the awardees there are great names in Spanish scientific activity. In this XVII edition, the jury has been chaired by Doctor Joseba Pineda, dean of the UPV/EHU Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, being the secretary the Director of the Euskoiker University-Business Foundation, Doctor Alfonso Hernández. The other members of the committee were: Dr. Laura Lechuga, Dr. Rosa Hernández, Dr. Ramón Colomer, Dr. Guillermo Zalba and Mr. Mikel Martínez, General Director of Burdinola.
