Scientific Programmes
Molecular Oncology Programme
Telomeres and Telomerase Group
María A. Blasco Last update May/2010
Maria Blasco, born in Alicante in 1965, obtained her PhD in 1993 for research on DNA polymerases at the Centro de Biología Molecular under the supervision of M. Salas. That same year, Blasco joined the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, USA, as a Postdoctoral Fellow under the leadership of C. W. Greider. During this time, Blasco cloned one of the mammalian telomerase genes and generated the first telomerase knockout mouse.
In 1997 she returned to Spain to start her own research Group at the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología in Madrid, where she continued her work on the development of mouse models for the study of the role of telomerase in cancer and ageing. She joined the CNIO in 2003 as Director of the Molecular Oncology Programme and Leader of the Telomeres and Telomerase Group.
Blasco has received the Swiss Bridge Award for Research in Cancer, the Josef Steiner Cancer Research Award, the EMBO Gold Medal, the Fundación Carmen and Severo Ochoa Award for Molecular Biology, the Rey Jaime I Basic Research Award, the Körber European Science Award, and the Alberto Sols Biomedical Research Award. She also serves on the Editorial Board of several scientific journals and is an elected EMBO Member, a Young Global Leader (the World Economic Forum), and a Member of the Academia Europaea.
Maria belongs to the Faculty 1000 (stem cells and regeneration) and was appointed to the EMBO Council in 2008. She has authored more than 150 papers and made major contributions to the field of telomeres and telomerase and their role in ageing, cancer, and the reprogramming of differentiated cells.
