Amaya Azqueta, professor at the School of Pharmacy and Nutrition of the University of Navarra, has been elected vice-president of the European Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EEMGS). This society, which has been in existence for more than half a century, aims topromote the study of genotoxic and mutagenic compounds and related biological activities through goal . It is also the first Spanish society to form part of the organisation's management committee .

"I face this appointment with great enthusiasm but also with the respect that comes with taking on a responsibility like this," confesses Professor Azqueta. "The society works very well from the scientific point of view, but there are always aspects to improve, such as the link between universities, companies and regulatory bodies, or the relationship between junior and senior researchers.

Among its functions in the coming years will also be to promote training from the EEMGS, or the financial aid and inclusion of members and affiliates from European countries with limited research activity: "We want to facilitate by different means, especially economic, that researchers from certain countries become part of the society and improve the relationship between the affiliated societies and the European society".

A trajectory linked to international scientific collaboration

Amaya Azqueta did her doctoral dissertation at the laboratory of Toxicology of the University of Navarra, during which she collaborated with different national and international groups. After finishing, she worked for more than 4 years at the University of Oslo and 4 months at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. These stays and attendance to congresses have given Azqueta a very wide network of contacts. "I am on contact with researchers from other countries practically every day," he confesses.  

Now, being part of the management committee of a body like the EEMGS will allow him to expand his international contacts, "which is always good and enriching for research". "Collaborate, collaborate and collaborate, that's the core topic. But really do it," he emphasises. In addition, his work will provide the University with greater visibility and will be a potential source for collaborations and agreements in research and teaching.

This is what this lecturer at School of Pharmacy and Nutrition has been striving for since 2004, when she participated in the first congress of the EEMGS. management committee "In 2014 I organised at the University the annual congress of its national branch, the Spanish Society of Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics (SEMA), of which I have been board member since 2016", says Azqueta. In 2017 he also organised the congress of the comet (ICAW - International Comet Assay Workshop) in Pamplona and also participated in the organisation of the previous congress in Antwerp and the next one in Pushchino (Russia). "We are now organising another ICAW in Maastricht, which will have a day dedicated to the EEMGS," he says.

In addition, since 2018 and until her appointment as vice-president, she has been one of the three trustees of the company, who work alongside the management committee, ensure the proper functioning of the company and review the activity documents or the financial balance sheet, among others.