María José Sánchez, scientific director of the ibs.GRANADA, awarded by the Muy Science Fest

The scientific director of the ibs.GRANADA and professor at the Andalusian School of Public Health (EASP), Mª José Sánchez, has received the award Very Interesting for Women Scientists in the category of Medicine/Health

The scientific director of the ibs.GRANADA and professor at the Andalusian School of Public Health (EASP), an entity attached to the General Secretariat of Public Health and R&D&i in Health of the Ministry of Health and Consumption, Maria Jose Sanchez, has been recognized with the award Very interesting for women scientists, in the Medicine/Health category, for their contribution to the advancement of science. The awards will be presented in Malaga on Saturday 19th at the third edition of the Very Science Fest, a space for scientific dissemination organized by the magazine Very Interesting.

This is the first edition of the awards Very Interesting for Women Scientists in Andalusia, awards that recognize the career and research relevance of professionals in Andalusia. The jury is made up of the editor-in-chief of Very Interesting, the director of the magazine and a group of expert contributors.

Sánchez is a doctor of medicine from the University of Granada (UGR) and is specialized in Clinical Microbiology and Parasitology. She is an expert in Epidemiology and Clinical Research, in Health Promotion in healthcare, educational and social contexts and in Bioethics from the UGR.

In 1997 he became part of the EASP staff, being assigned to the Granada Cancer Registry which he began to direct in 2009. Since 2020 he has combined this position with the scientific direction of the Biosanitary Research Institute (ibs.GRANADA), of which EASP is a member. He currently combines this position with that of head of research and consultancy at EASP.

Research as a driving force of life

Dr. Sánchez has extensive experience in the design and development of epidemiological studies related to the etiology, healthcare, health inequalities and survival of patients with cancer, having led and/or collaborated in more than 30 research projects at European, national and regional levels. The results of these projects have been reflected in more than 150 scientific publications in the last 5 years.

She is Principal Investigator of a research group of excellence at the CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health, of the ibs.GRANADA and the PAIDI Research Group of the EASP on 'Research in Public Health and Health Services'. She was president of the Spanish Network of Cancer Registries (REDECAN) and elected member of the Steering Committee of the European Network of Cancer Registries (ENCRSince December 2017, she has been the coordinator of the Epidemiology and Chronic Disease Control Program at CIBERESP and a member of its board of directors.

She is the coordinator of the EPIC-Spain study and Principal Investigator of the EPIC-Granada study. She participates in the Andalusian Cancer Strategy, coordinating the strategic line on 'Epidemiology and Information Systems'. In addition, she is Principal Investigator of Andalusia in the Predictive Medicine Program of the IMPaCT infrastructure of the Carlos I Health InstituteII, which aims to recruit a multicentre and multipurpose cohort in Spain of 200.000 people.

In 2018 she was included in the list of Highly Cited Researchers, being one of the most cited researchers in the world in the field of Oncology. She is a professor of the Clinical Medicine and Public Health doctoral program at the University of Granada since 2019 and has been recognized as a Visiting Scholar of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the UGR from 2019 to 2021.

She is a member of the advisory committee of the Personalized Precision Medicine Plan of Andalusia and director of the Chair of Precision Medicine 5P with the UGR and Roche Farma and director of the Chair of Obesity and other metabolic diseases of EASP, UGR and Novo Nordisk

She has recently been elected by Spain as a member of the Scientific Council of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the WHO for the period 2024-2029.

He is a member of the advisory committee of the R&D Strategy in Health 2024-2028, of the Plan for Research and Innovation in Public Health of Andalusia and of the Strategic Plan of the Biobank of the Public Health System of Andalusia and a member of the external scientific advisory committee of the Pfizer-University of Granada-Junta de Andalucía Center for Genomics and Oncology Research (GENYO), as well as the Health Research Institute of Castilla la Mancha (IDISCAM).

Another recognition for a long professional career

Among other recognitions, Dr. Sánchez occupies the first position among Andalusian researchers and the tenth among Spanish and foreign researchers in Spain, in the second edition of the ranking prepared by the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) within its commitment to gender equality policies.

This year she was recognized among the 100 most influential women in Andalusia by Forbes Women. In 2023 she received the Gold Medal of the province of Granada and the city of Granada, for her research career. In 2023 she was among the Top 100 leaders of El Español and MagasIN in the category of Academics, thinkers and researchers. In 2019 she received the award for the best scientific career from the Mesa de la Ciencia y la Innovación and the UGR.