This is a new recognition by international scientific institutions, after her election to the United States of America National Academy of Medicine, to the prestigious College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and to the CRS College of Fellows
Santiago de Compostela, 31 January 2021- María José Alonso, Professor of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), has entered the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium (ARMB) as a Foreign Member. The induction ceremony of Professor Alonso in the ARMB took place today, in a virtual meeting, due to the pandemic situation.
Election to the ARMB is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine in Belgium. The Academy of Medicine welcomes new members from Belgium and abroad. Today, 13 of them was welcomed: 5 Belgian and 8 foreign members (coming from Spain, France, US and Canada).
“The selection is extremely rigorous, explains Professor Jean-Michel Foidart, Permanent Secretary of the Royal Belgian Academy of Medicine, only a minority of applications are accepted. The admission of a candidate to the ARMB requires the approval of two thirds of the members. We are therefore very proud to be able to welcome these world-class scientists with whom the ARMB will maintain international collaborations on a scientific level”. María José Alonso expressed her gratitude to the ARMB for this honor, and thanked all who have helped her along her career.
The applications of new members are evaluated on the basis of several criteria: scientific excellence, international reputation in the scientific or clinical field, excellence of the CV and publications, and international collaboration with French-speaking Belgian research institutions and universities.
This is a new recognition of the outstanding career of Professor Alonso by international scientific institutions, after her election to the United States of America National Academy of Medicine in 2016, to the prestigious College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2017, and to the Controlled Release Society (CRS) College of Fellows in 2018.
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 93). 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), the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium, and also member of the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM).
About the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium
The Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium is a public institution created under the reign of Leopold I in 1841. The ARMB is a work center, a center of reflection, of exchanges of ideas, and an advisory organ for governmental institutions. The competence of the Academy encompasses all fields of human and animal medicine, pharmacy and related fields.
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