Scientific Direction

Duties

Planning and direction of the scientific policy and research plans.
Coordination and evaluation of research lines, groups and projects; being the leading representative and scientific spokesman of the Institute.
Planning and executive direction of the infrastructures and the human and material resources of the Institute.
Elaboration and management of the budget and the scientific report of IRYCIS.
Operational coordination with the Foundation, the Hospital and the member universities of IRYCIS.
Replacement of the Chairman of the Executive Commission or the corresponding institutional representative in technical, organizational, management and general issues.

Scientific Director

Dr María Laura García Bermejo has a PhD in Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Alcalá and has performed postdoctoral scientific stays in prestigious centers such as CSIC, Puerta de Hierro Hospital, University of Pennsylvania and the Cancer Research Institute in New York. She has recently completed the Senior Management Program of Research, Innovation and Technology Transfer at the IESE Business School.

In 2002, she joined the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital with a Miguel Servet contract and is an Associate Professor at the University of Alcalá. She currently holds the following responsible positions:

Consolidated researcher of the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital (FIBioHRC)
Head of the "Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets" translational research group
President of the IRYCIS Research Commission
Auditor of the Health Research Institute Carlos III (ISCIII)
Evaluator of the National Evaluation Agency
Co-chair of the Biomarkers Platform of the European Advanced Translational Research Infrastructure (EATRIS)
Responsible for the Conflict of Interest Commission in charge of the evaluation of national ISCIII public calls
Editor in the international journal Frontiers in Oncology

Previously she was the head of the "Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets" Central Support Unit of the Institute and member of the Hospital Research Commission, the Biobank Advisory Committee, the Animal Welfare Committee, the IRYCIS Training Commission and the first IRYCIS Accreditation Commission, in 2009.

Dr. García Bermejo is an experienced researcher with a professional career spanning more than 28 years, specifically devoted to translational research throughout her 18 years as a researcher at Ramón y Cajal University Hospital. All these years working in multidisciplinary teams with key opinion leaders of international recognition in several clinical disciplines (nephrology, oncology, infectious diseases or cardiology, among others) have made her an intangible value for translational research in biomedicine and, more specifically, of biomarker research.

To date, she has participated in 55 research projects (including 15 international projects) and is the PI in 24 projects and 7 clinical trials. She has taken part in 5 cooperative networks and has participated in 6 projects with pharmaceutical companies.

Up to 2021, she has accumulated 92 publications (index H: 38, i10: 76) and 11 granted patents, both at a national and international level. In addition, she has a wide experience in training, has supervised 16 theses and final degree projects and she has presented more than 100 communications in national and international conferences.