María Antonia Blasco Marhuenda (born 1965), known as María Blasco, is a Spanish molecular biologist. She is the current director of the Spanish National Centre for Cancer Research (Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas).
Entrevista a maria blasco marhuenda doctora honoris causa por la uc3m
Life
Blasco was born in 1965. She obtained her PhD in 1993 for her research at the Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (UAM-CSIC), under the supervision of Margarita Salas. That same year, Blasco joined the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York (USA) as a Postdoctoral Fellow under the leadership of Carol W. Greider. In 1997 she returned to Spain to start her own research at the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología in Madrid. She joined the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas](CNIO) in 2003 as Director of the Molecular Oncology Programme and Leader of the Telomeres and Telomerase Group. In 2005 she was also assigned as Vice-Director of Basic Research and in 2011 she was appointed as CNIO Director.
Research
Isolation of the core components of mouse telomerase and generation of the first knockout mouse for telomerase;
Generation of the first mouse with increased telomerase expression in adult tissues;
The finding that mammalian telomeres and subtelomeres have epigenetic marks characteristic of constitutive heterochromatin;
Discovery of telomeric RNAs, which are potent telomerase-inhibitors whose expression is altered in cancer;
Demonstration that telomerase activity and telomere length determine the regenerative capacity of adult stem cells;
Identification of the longest telomeres as a universal feature of adult stem cell niches;
The finding that telomerase overexpression in the context of cancer resistant-mice improves organismal fitness, produces a systemic delay in ageing and an extension in median life-span;
Discovery that telomeres rejuvenate after nuclear reprogramming;
Identification of the molecular mechanisms by which short telomeres/DNA damage limit nuclear reprogramming of defective cells;
Discovery that telomeric protein TRF1 can act as both a tumour suppressor and as a factor in ageing prevention.
Professional experience
2011- Director Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas(CNIO)
2005-2011 Vice-Director of Basic Research (CNIO)
2003-2011 Director, Molecular Oncology Program (CNIO)
2003–present Head, Telomeres and Telomerase Group (CNIO)
1997-2003 Staff Investigator, National Center of Biotechnology, Madrid, Spain
1993-1996 Postdoctoral Fellow, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, USA. supervisor Dr. Carol. W. Greider
1992-1993 Postoctoral Fellow, Center of Molecular Biology, Madrid, Spain. supervisor Dr. Margarita Salas
1989-1992 Graduate Fellow, Center of Molecular Biology, Madrid, Spain supervisor Dr. Margarita Salas
Honours and awards
2013 - Fellow of the Royal Academy of Pharmacy of Spain
2012 - Member of the Scientific Board of the AXA Research Fund
2012 - Member of the Scientific Board of the Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR)
2012 - Member of the Board of Trustees and President of the External Advisory Board of the Spanish National Centre for Research on Ageing (CNIE)
2012 - Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research Selection Committee
2012 - Official Nominator for the "2014 Japan Prize" awarded by The Japan Prize Foundation, Japan
2012 - Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation "Embajadora Honoraria de la Marca España-2013"
2012 - Santiago Grisolía Chair 2012 in Biomedicine and Neurosciences, Spain
2011 - 2011 Award in Innovation and Social Transformation, Fundación IDEAS, España.
