Lab crew

Iñigo Aguirre de Carcer was born in Bloomington (IN, USA), in 1976. He graduated in Chemistry (Organic) at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Spain in 2000. He continued his studies at the University of Washington (UW), obtaining a Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry in 2008. After a short stage at the Nanoscience and Molecular Materials Lab back at UAM, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Aeronautical Technical Engineering (EUTIA), Madrid Technical University (UPM). He was appointed Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Material Science at the Department of Aerospace Materials and Production (ETSIAE, UPM) in 2016 and later Associate Professor in 2022. His research interests lay at the use of organic and inorganic syntheses to probe structure function relationships in nano assemblies..

Sandra Jiménez Falcao obtained her degree in Chemistry in 2014 (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, UCM), her Master in Chemical Science and Technology (UCM) in 2015, and in 2021 she finished her PhD in Advanced Chemistry titled “Nanosensors and smart delivery systems based on porous materials” (UCM). Afterwards she worked in IMDEA Agua developing analytical methods for the determination of relevant environmental pollutants. In 2022 she obtained a Margarita Salas grant to do her postdoc at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos developing metallic complex based nanosystems for both environmental and biomedical purposes. She is currently working as a professor and researcher at the Materials and Aerospace Production Department in Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Sandra’s scientific activity is focused in the field of materials science, for the development of a variety of nanosystems based on inorganic supports (like mesoporous silica, titanium dioxide or metal nanoparticles), organic moieties, and biomolecules like enzymes or aptamers.  

Jorge Parra Nieto was born in Madrid (Spain) in 1996. He graduated in Chemistry and completed his Master in Science and Chemical Technology
at Universidad Complutense de Madrid working in the preparation and characterization of
nanomaterials and their use both as signaling elements in optical or electrochemical sensors,
and as smart delivery sistems.
Nowadays, he is in the third year of his PhD thesis working in the development of stimuli-responsive nanoassemblies capable to trigger self-sustained immune responses in antitumoral therapy.

Mª Amor started her chemical studies at the University of Castilla La Mancha (UCLM) after transferring to Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry in 2008. After receiving a master’s Degree in polymer science in 2012 (UNED) she continued her graduate research studies at Madrid Technical University (UPM) in the synthesis and characterization of nanocomposites, graduating with a PhD in chemistry in 2017. She is currently a technical staff member at the Department of Materials and Aerospace Production (UPM). Her research interests are focused on the applications of polymeric materials in the field of nanomedicine.

Laura Martín Castilla was born in Pamplona (Spain) in 2000. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry in 2022 in Navarra University. Now, she is finishing her studies in the Master of Biomaterials. She has joined to the group as Master student. Her Research Project is focused on the development of targeted nanocarriers able to guide CAR T cells towards tumoral cells.

Marta Alcaide Fajardo was born in Madrid (2001) and is currently finishing her studies in Materials Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. She carried out an Erasmus research stay in Warsaw University of Technology during 2021. She has always been interested in materials for health field and to find a way to help people. She has joined to the group as graduate student. Her Research Project is focused on the development of pH-responsive protocells able to release cytotoxic agents in tumoral cells, only in the presence of the mild acidic conditions of solid tumors.

Diana Marcos Fernández was born in Madrid (2001) and is currently finishing her studies in Biotechnology at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. She has always been interested in nanomaterials for health field and smart drug delivery nanoplatforms. She has joined to the group as graduate student. Her Research Project is focused on the development of protocells able to selectively deplete tumor associated macrophages in neuroblastoma tumors to revert the immunosuppresive tumoral microenvironment.

Alicia Arroyo Nogales was born in Madrid (2001) and is currently finishing her studies in Biotechnology at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. She has always been interested in biomedical research and the application of nanomaterials in the health field. She has joined to the group as graduate student. Her Research Project is focused on the development of hybrid protocells able to transport enzimes capable to work in tandem provoking the elimination of the immunosuppresive tumoral microenvironment.

Ángel Vela Cruz is an Aeroespace Engineering student at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He focuses the acquisition of knowledge in fields, such as organic chemistry, synthesis and characterization of nanomaterial and nanotechnology. His research project is focused on the development of a microfluidic-based platform to allows the easy-to-tune production of nanoassemblies with a controlled size distribution.