Four women scientists from Brazil, Spain, Iran and Italy are doing research at the University thanks to doctoral program WIT (Welcoming International Talent), promoted by the Government of Navarra to attract talent to the region. These are Aline Risson, Lorea Jordana and Niloufar Hosseini, who are working on cancer immunotherapy, new therapies for hematological diseases and gene therapy in groups of research del Cimaand Sara Lorenzoni, who is doing her doctorate at the department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the School of Pharmacy and Nutrition.

The predoctoral researchers participated, together with five other UPNA scientists, in a reception at the Palace of Navarra. The President of Navarra, María Chivite, highlighted the commitment of Navarra "to advance in training, research and innovation" and referred to its university system "of enormous prestige both at training and research".

The WIT program, led by the Government of Navarra in coordination with the UPNA and the University of Navarra, has a budget amounting to 2.6 million euros, financed by the Government of Navarra and the European Union in equal parts. Since its launching, it has financed 16 researchers in two calls, who obtain a three-year financial aid to develop research projects in a Navarra university.

The Brazilian researcher Aline Risson has joined, thanks to the scholarship WIT, the group of Immunology and Immunotherapy of Cima, to carry out her doctorate in cancer immunotherapy. A graduate in Biomedicine from the Federal University of Paraná and Master's Degree in Translational Medicine at the University of Barcelona, her research focuses on developing a platform for screening molecules with increased antitumor effect and potential clinical application. "This scholarship represents a unique opportunity to work in a research center of excellence, which has a complete infrastructure and a wide partnership with the clinic and industry," he says.

Sara Lorenzoni, a native of Rome and a graduate and Master's Degree in Chemistry from La Sapienza University (Rome), is enjoying this scholarship at the department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the School of Pharmacy and Nutrition. "The scholarship allows me to do research at a leading group in the development and characterization of nanoparticles," he says. In addition, the international research environment provided by the WIT program will offer him "numerous opportunities for growth." His study focuses on the development of lipid nanoparticles designed to deliver chemotherapeutic drugs to patients with pediatric tumors, specifically neuroblastoma.

Lorea Jordana, born in Estella (Navarra), graduated in Human Biology and Master's Degree international in Innovative Medicine by the University of Uppsala (Sweden), carries out her doctorate in CART therapies for hematological diseases. This therapy is based on the modification Genetics of T lymphocytes in oncology patients, specifically in patients with Multiple Myeloma, a hematological tumor located in the bone marrow. "This financial aid gives me the opportunity to be part of a Europeannetwork , as well as to attend to congresses and to carry out stays that are of interest for my study area ", he indicates.

Also at Cima is Niloufar Hosseini, a native of Iran, a graduate of Cell and Molecular Biology and Master's Degree in Microbial Biotechnology from Ferdowsi University in Mashhad. She does research in the Division of DNA and RNA Medicine at Cima. "We do research to improve therapies developed for genetic diseases and cancer, through new gene therapy technologies such as gene editing, the use of non-viral vectors to transfer DNA or RNA in vivo, or the development of novel expression regulation systems, etc."