From the left: Veronique (Hawk Biosystems), Roger Castells-Graells (CNIO), Aitziber López Cortajarena (vice president of the Spanish Society for Biophysics). / Antonio Cruz. SBE
Castells-Graells is head of the Biomolecular Design and Structural Nanomedicine Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO).
The award acknowledges researchers under 33 years of age in the field of biophysics.
The award was presented during the XVIII International Congress of the Spanish Biophysics Society (SBE).
The researcher Roger Castells-Graells, from the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), has received the “Hawk Biosystems” award, issued by the Spanish Society of Biophysics (SBE) in the context of its XVIII International Congress.
Castells-Graells recently joined the CNIO to lead the new Biomolecular Design and Structural Nanomedicine Group. They focus on designing protein nanoparticles aimed to detect cancer earlier and to speed up the development of more effective drugs with fewer side effects. “At the CNIO we are creating tools to design new proteins which can work as nanomachines,” he says.
This award rewards the career in the field of biophysics of researchers under 33 years old, and is endowed with €1,000 and the opportunity to give a lecture during the annual congress of the SBE.
During his talk, ‘Programmed Nanomachines: from viruses to proteins designed with AI’, the researcher explained how “thanks to artificial intelligence, today we can design protein nanoparticles with potential therapeutic applications”. He also mentioned other technologies, available at the CNIO, that make the three-dimensional structure of proteins visible at high-resolution: “We use cryo-electron microscopy to reveal in atomic detail the structure of key proteins in human diseases such as cancer”.
Along with Castells-Graells, José María Carazo, from the National Center for Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC), received the “Manuel Rico-Bruker Spain” award for a scientific career in the field of biophysics, and Edurne Rujas, from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), received the “Enrique Pérez-Payá-Prospera Biotech & BCN peptides” award for the career of researchers under 40 years of age.