Dr. Marta Alonso, researcher of Pediatric Solid Tumors of the Cima and the Clínica Universidad de Navarrahas received a "Consolidator grant" from the European committee of research (ERC). This is one of the most prestigious scientific awards in the European Union, and rewards the excellence of the project and its researcher principal investigator. In this edition, 16 Spanish projects have been selected from among the 2,389 research proposals evaluated.

The scholarship, endowed with 2 million euros, will be used to reinforce its line of research in brain tumors. According to Dr. Alonso, "this grant will allow us to consolidate the group of research, both with staff qualified and with the development of ambitious experiments that can reach clinical application".

In her laboratory at Cima Dr. Alonso uses genetically modified oncolytic viruses (which act directly on tumor cells) to treat patients with brain tumors. "We have a clinical essay underway at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra with the delta 24 virus (cold itself) that is indicated for patients with diffuse brain stem tumors. This is a subject tumor that primarily affects children and has a very poor prognosis. Our goal is to understand how these children respond to the virus. With these data, we aim to improve the virus in order to perfect the treatment for these patients," explains the researcher.

Moreover, Dr. Alonso's group is going to participate in another clinical essay at partnership with Texas Children's Hospital, Houston (USA). "We are using the same virus but we are extending the indication to other types of brain tumors, such as ATRT, and high gliomas Degree".

From Houston to Pamplona

Marta Alonso (Lodosa, 1974) has a degree in Biology from the University of Navarra. She defended the thesis at the Public University of Navarra in the Dept. of Health Sciences and moved to MD Anderson, Houston (USA), where she spent 7 years at the laboratory of Drs. Juan Fueyo and Candela Gómez-Manzano. He returned to Spain in 2010 thanks to the scholarship Ramón y Cajal. He developed his research in childhood brain tumors and osteosarcoma with the help of Cima and Clínica Universidad de Navarra.

In 2013 she received a scholarship L'Oréal-UNESCO "For Woman in Science" and in 2018 the award "Rural Woman" from the association de Familias y Mujeres del Medio Rural de Navarra. Dr. Alonso is married and mother of three children.