Sara García Alonso | |
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Born | 1989 (age 34–35) León, Spain |
Education |
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Occupation | Scientist |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (2019–) |
Thesis | Anticuerpos conjugados a fármacos frente a receptores ErbB: Nuevas indicaciones y mecanismos de resistencia (2018) |
Space career | |
ESA reserve astronaut | |
Selection | 2022 ESA Group |
Sara García Alonso (born 1989) is a Spanish cancer researcher and reserve ESA astronaut. Since 2019, she has been a postdoctoral researcher at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre. In 2022, she was chosen as a reserve astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps.
Education and academic career
[edit]García attended University of León, where she earned a bachelor's degree in biotechnology in 2012 and a master's degree in biomedical and biological research in 2013.[1]
As a doctoral candidate at University of Salamanca, García conducted research on cancer medicine as a university research assistant for the Spanish National Research Council. She earned a doctorate cum laude in the nuclear biology of cancer and translational medicine in the university's Cancer Research Centre in 2018,[1][2][3] advised by Atanasio Pandiella Alonso.[4] Her doctoral dissertation focused on mechanisms of resistance to antibody-drug conjugates in ErbB receptors[a][4] and it won her the university's Outstanding Doctorate Award the following year.[1]
Since 2019, she has been working as a postdoctoral researcher on drug discovery and experimental oncology at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, where she has led a project to discover drugs for lung cancer and pancreatic cancer in the laboratory of Mariano Barbacid.[5][1] Her research has focused on RAF1 selective degraders as a therapeutic target, in order to combat certain forms of cancers.[6] She participated in a 6-month training programme at IE Business School, in Madrid, in 2021. She has volunteered for the Spanish Association Against Cancer , a nonprofit organisation.[1]
Astronaut career
[edit]The European Space Agency (ESA) selected García as a reserve astronaut for the 2022 selection of astronauts of the European Astronaut Corps.[7][8] García and fellow astronaut candidate Pablo Álvarez Fernández , both natives of León, Spain, are the first Spaniards selected by the ESA since Pedro Duque joined the European Astronaut Corps in 1992.[8][9] They were selected from more than 22,500 candidates across Europe.[8] As a reserve astronaut, García will continue her current job, and will begin training if found to be an ideal candidate for a future space mission.[8]
Personal life
[edit]García was born in León, Spain, in 1989.[9] In addition to her biomedical research, she has worked as a personal trainer and a nutrition coach.[3]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Sara García Alonso". esa.int. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
- ^ Corbella, Josep (23 November 2022). "Sara García Alonso, la investigadora del cáncer seleccionada como astronauta" [Sara García Alonso, the cancer researcher selected as an astronaut]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ a b Rey, Álvaro Sánchez (23 November 2022). "Artes marciales y feminismo: así es Sara García, la nueva astronauta española de la ESA" [Martial arts and feminism: this is Sara García, the new Spanish astronaut at ESA]. Vanitatis (in Spanish). El Confidencial. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ a b c "Tesis Defendidas en la Universidad de Salamanca en el Curso 2019/20" [Theses Defended at the University of Salamanca in the 2019/20 Academic Year] (PDF) (in Spanish). University of Salamanca. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
- ^ "Sara García-Alonso, la española seleccionada por la ESA como astronauta suplente" [Sara García-Alonso, the Spaniard selected by ESA as a substitute astronaut]. El Periódico (in Spanish). 24 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ "Postdoctoral Fellows". Mariano Barbacid Laboratory. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
- ^ "ESA presents new generation of astronauts". esa.int. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d de Jorge, Judith (23 November 2022). "Dos españoles, una investigadora del cáncer y un ingeniero, nuevos astronautas de la Agencia Espacial Europea" [Two Spaniards, a cancer researcher and an engineer, new astronauts of the European Space Agency]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Pablo Álvarez y Sara García: la Agencia Espacial Europea elige a dos españoles por primera vez en 30 años" [Pablo Álvarez and Sara García: the European Space Agency chooses two Spaniards for the first time in 30 years]. Público (in Spanish). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.