María de los Ángeles Ramírez, author of the thesis entitled “Design, synthesis and characterization of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles as drug delivery systems, and their potential biomedical applications” —co-supervised by the CIC biomaGUNE researcher Sergio Moya (lead researcher of the Soft Matter Nanotechnology Lab) and Galo Soler-Illia (Nanosystems Institute, UNSAM, Argentina)—, has won the bronze medal of the PhD Thesis Award 2021 of the International Sol-Gel Society. The ISGS is an international, interdisciplinary, non-profit organization whose primary purpose and aim is to drive forward sol-gel science and technology.

The thesis aimed to study in depth the use of nanoparticles to treat diseases, mainly certain types of cancer.  Specifically, “we chose to work with mesoporous silica nanoparticles synthesized by sol-gel processes”, explained Ramírez. They are biodegradable, biocompatible nanoparticles, “essential features if one is considering transfer to the clinical setting,” she added. “In turn, they have pores that function as 'pockets' into which therapeutic drugs can be loaded; that way, the nanoparticles enter the body and carry the encapsulated drugs to specific sites (tumor tissue), thus reducing the adverse effects that occur when the same substances are administered freely. We studied the biological pathway that nanoparticles take on entering a living organism, as well as their elimination pathways.”  Throughout the work on the thesis, the importance of acquiring detailed knowledge about the sol-gel processes that take place from design to synthesis was reinforced, so that functional nanoparticles can be produced for use as potential biomedical tools.

The researcher said she was delighted “to have been awarded a distinction by the ISGS committee as it is great recognition of my work”. This is an international call to which work from across the world is submitted, and “the fact that ours has been recognized as one of the best globally is an indication of the robustness of the work we do jointly between UNSAM and CIC biomaGUNE”. Ramírez also highlighted the difficulties women face in this field: “I am proud that we are beginning to conquer new territories in science and technology, and that our work is being recognized and evaluated on an equal footing.”