BIO
Margarita Del Val is a senior scientist, virologist and immunologist at the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Centre (CBMSO) in Madrid. She holds a PhD in Chemistry from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Her research focuses on analyzing the immune response to viral infections as well as immunological memory, which constitute basic aspects of vaccine function and development. She has led numerous research projects and published high-impact articles with her research team, frequently in collaboration with other groups. As well as working at the Federal Research Centre for Viral Diseases of Animals and the University of Ulm (Germany), and the Spanish National Health Institute Carlos III, she has been a guest scientist at the National Institutes of Health (United States) and McGill University (Canada). Currently serving as coordinator of the CSIC-run Interdisciplinary Research Platform on Global Health, assembled to confront the coronavirus pandemic and future health challenges, she has also been Spanish representative at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and is a member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Pharmacy and the Madrid Region’s Vaccines Advisory Committee. Her contributions in communicating scientific knowledge to society have earned her the BBVA Foundation-CSIC Scientific Communication Award and the Medal of Honor for Social Values from the International University Menéndez Pelayo, amongst over 30 awards and honors, including 12 as a woman scientist.