The Ikerbasque Research Professor at CIC biomaGUNE Luis Liz-Marzán has been nominated foreign academician by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Italy) in the category of Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences at a ceremony held last Friday at the Academy's headquarters in Rome. After the solemn admission ceremony, Professor Liz-Marzán delivered a lecture in which he set out the main keys in his research work. Academy President Roberto Antonelli, for his part, expressed his “complete confidence” that Professor Liz-Marzán’s contribution “will increase the scientific and cultural prestige of the Accademia dei Lincei”. The Academy, founded in the 16th century, has a long tradition; during its early stages it had such prominent members as Galileo Galilei and boasts several Nobel laureates, both Italian and foreign.

Liz-Marzán said “it is an immense honor to have been selected to join such a prestigious institution. Although these awards are usually made in my name, we must not forget that the merit should be shared with an increasing number of young scientists who carry out excellent work, without which all this would be impossible. They have all contributed toward making our science recognized as a benchmark in the field”.

This recognition endorses the extensive scientific career of Professor Liz-Marzán (head of the BioNanoPlasmonics Laboratory at CIC biomaGUNE, professor at the University of Vigo and lead researcher of CINBIO and the CIBER-BBN), whose recent ERC Synergy Grant (in addition to the two previous ERC Advanced Grants and two Proofs of Concept) signifies almost continuous funding from the European Research Council over the last 20 years.

Liz-Marzán is widely recognized internationally for his pioneering work in nanoscience, in particular in the synthesis and application of plasmonic nanoparticles. Much of his recent work has to do with the medical applications of nanoparticles, such as controlled drug delivery and early detection of disease. His interdisciplinary research may exert a real impact on our society.

Aitziber L. Cortajarena, Ikerbasque Research Professor and Scientific Director of CIC biomaGUNE, stressed that “his work is truly innovative. What stands out is his ability to modulate the synthesis of these nanomaterials with great precision, and therefore, their properties. He is able to bring plasmonic nanoparticles to applications, which would not be possible without the unprecedented degree of control over nanosystems that his team achieves, thanks to their unique expertise in the field”.

By combining these capabilities with huge creativity, the team led by Professor Liz-Marzán has done pioneering work in important areas of biomedical applications as diverse as the identification of bacteria, the monitoring of fibers related to the progression of Parkinson's disease, the integration of nanoparticles into 3D models through bioprinting, and the development of cancer models to explore the mechanisms of the disease and the development of new therapies. Cortajarena went on to stress that “the ability he has to connect fundamental cutting-edge science with the development of solutions for major challenges in the field of biomedicine is a key factor in the success and impact of his research”.