Prof. Ana Martínez, awarded the Juan de la Cierva National Research Award, in the area of technology transfer

Ana Martínez Gil, research professor at the Margarita Salas Center for Biological Research (CIB-CSIC) where she leads the Translational Medicinal and Biological Chemistry group, has been awarded the Juan de la Cierva National Research Prize in the area of technology transfer in recognition of her contributions in the field of drug design and development for neurodegenerative and infectious diseases. The jury has highlighted her significant contributions to the transfer of technology and knowledge, both to society as a whole and to companies through the generation of spin-offs and patents.

Prof. Martínez has a long trajectory in the fields of drug discovery and medicinal chemistry and is focused principally on neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Her main areas of research involve cholinesterase, protein kinase, and phosphodiesterase inhibitors and, more recently, the discovery of inhibitors of protein-protein interaction (PPIs), mitophagy modulators, and anti-SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors.

She became a CSIC staff scientist in 1990 working at the Instituto de Química Médica (IQM-CSIC) until 2002 when she moved to the company NeuroPharma as R&D Director providing them with strategic, leadership management and guidance in R&D activities from the drug discovery to the final proof of concept in different animal models. Since February 2008, she resumed her academic position in the CSIC, firstly in the IQM-CSIC and since April 2014 in the CIB-CSIC.

Several of her compounds have reached clinical trials and she has authored more than 40 patent families owned by CSIC and NeuroPharma. Several of her new drugs have been licensed with the aim to reach the clinic for Alzheimer’s therapy. Moreover, she founded the company ANKAR PHARMA based on an innovative treatment for multiple sclerosis discovered in her group, being its scientific executive advisor. Her laboratory is a CIBERNED member and one of the only five chemistry sites of EU-OPENSCREEN, the European infrastructure platform for biological chemistry and drug screening.

She was awarded the Madri+d Best Patent Award in 2015, the Scientific Award Real Academia Nacional de Farmacia in 2018, and she received the Best-Protected Invention Award by the Spanish Office of Patents and Trademarks (OEPM) in 2022.  

Prof. Martínez has also a strong commitment to the dissemination of her work to society. She is the author of the books El Alzheimer y El Parkinson, published by CSIC and Los Libros de la Catarata, and has participated in multiple conferences through the years directed to students and the general public.

The 2022 National Research Awards, granted by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, are the most important recognition in Spain in the field of scientific research. The awards, endowed with 30.000 euros in each modality, distinguish those researchers from Spain who carry out outstanding professional work of international relevance in their respective research and scientific fields. In this edition, 83 candidatures were admitted, 78% being men and 22% women, with an average age of the winners of 62 years.

More information:

MICINN Press release: link.