The biologist works at the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) and is the only Spanish woman researcher elected in this edition. 58 scientists in the field of life sciences become part of this organization in recognition of their contributions to scientific excellence.
The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), an organization created in 1964 with the aim to promote biological research excellence in Europe, has announced today the names of the 58 scientists who will add to the more than 1700 members of the organization. New EMBO Members are elected annually in recognition of their contributions to scientific excellence.
As a matter of fact, 84 from the EMBO membership are distinguished as Nobel Laureates. Each year, approximately 50 scientists, who have excelled for their research and achievements are appointed as members. In Spain, the researcher of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) at the Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), Ana I. Caño-Delgado, has been the only female scientist elected in this edition.
Ana I. Caño-Delgado, who leads CRAG’s research group Brassinosteroid signaling in plant development, focuses her research on the molecular mechanisms by which vegetal steroid hormones control plant growth and development. Her latest discoveries, which combine experimental and computational techniques, have allowed understanding fundamental questions in biology such as the mechanisms controlling the hormone-mediated stem cell proliferation or the role of telomeres in aging. Recently, Ana Caño-Delgado has received a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC), which will allow transferring these advances into benefits for the agriculture.
"It is a great honor and I am very happy about what it means for my country, especially in the midst of an economic crisis that curtails the progress of science," says Ana Caño-Delgado from the University of Florida, where she makes a sabbatical in Bioinformatics. "As a researcher female researcher and mother, I would like this to encourage other young researchers to fight with perseverance for achieving their career goals."
50 of the 58 new EMBO members reside in 13 different countries in Europe; eight Associate Members were elected from China, Japan, Lithuania, Singapore and the United States. Three of the new members investigate in centers at Madrid: Oscar Fernández-Capetillo and Marcos Malumbres, from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), and Roberto Solano, the National Center for Biotechnology (CNB).
With these four new EMBO elected members, Spain currently has 77 EMBO members, four of them at CRAG. Earlier this month, the general director of the EMBO sister organization, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), announced that Barcelona will host the new EMBL site, which will represent a major boost to biological research excellence for the country.
The Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) is a centre that forms part of the CERCA system of research centres of the Government of Catalonia, and which was established as a partnership of four institutions: the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Institute for Agri-Food Research and Technology (IRTA), the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the University of Barcelona (UB). CRAG’s research spans from basic research in plant and farm animal molecular biology, to applications of molecular approaches for breeding of species important for agriculture and food production in close collaboration with industry. CRAG has been recognized as "Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2016-2019" by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
Via: Centro de Investigación en Agrigenómica (CRAG)
European Molecular Biology Organization- EMBO