Dr. Ignacio Melero, Professor of Immunology at the University of Navarra, has been distinguished with the XX Burdinola Research Award, an award that recognizes his career in translational research in cancer immunotherapy.
Dr. Melero leads since 1998 a multidisciplinary team of the Cima University of Navarra working on immunotherapy with cell therapy techniques, gene therapy and monoclonal antibodies at the Cancer Center Clínica Universidad Navarra. He has recently been appointed Professor (Kidani Chair of Oncology) at the University of Oxford. He combines his activity at the University of Navarra with research at OXCIO, the Oxford Center of Immuno-oncology, a nascent center dependent on the departments of Medicine and Oncology of the English university.
Throughout his career he has been principal investigator in more than 44 immunotherapy clinical trials. His work has mainly focused on translational research in cancer immunotherapy. His most notable contributions focus on immunotherapy strategies based on the 4-1BB receptor (CD137) and his pioneering work on immunotherapy of hepatocarcinoma that has transformed medical practice.
For all these reasons, he has been recognized by the jury of the XX Burdinola Research Award as deserving of this award, which in this edition has sought to distinguish the most outstanding work in the field of research in the development of new therapeutic principles in biomedicine.
Support for research
An activity in direct contact with research teams and a special sensitivity to the social environment led Burdinola to come up with the idea of creating an award that would contribute to the recognition, appreciation and encouragement of the scientific community. This purpose was materialized in 1993 with the launching of the first Burdinola Research Award. Since then, the list of award winners has been growing with great names in Spanish scientific activity.
Members of the Jury
Throughout these years, another of the hallmarks of the award has been the high scientific level of the people who make up the jury. In this twentieth edition, seven experts have evaluated the different candidatures and finally, taking into account the theme of this edition (research in the development of new therapeutic principles in biomedicine), they have chosen the winning candidature on its merits. The meeting held for the deliberation of the jury's decision took place on July 21 at Burdinola's facilities in Amoroto (Bizkaia). The jury was chaired by Mr. Joseba Pineda, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Nursing of the UPV-EHU, and the secretary was the Director of the Euskoiker University-Company Foundation, Mr. Alfonso Hernández (with voice but without vote). The committee also had five members of recognized prestige: Mr. Javier Meana from the University of the Basque Country, Mr. Francesc Posas from IRB Barcelona, Ms. María Javier Ramírez from the University of Navarra, Ms. Rosa Noguera from the University of Valencia and Mr. Mikel Martínez, General Manager of Burdinola (with voice but without vote).
In its decision, the jury also wanted to highlight the high level of quality of the candidatures presented in this last call of the Burdinola Research Award. Details of the award ceremony of the XX Burdinola Research Award will be published later on.
