In exactly one week, Dr Núria López-Bigas will receive the XI Banco Sabadell Foundation Award for Biomedical Research for her contribution to the development of new bioinformatics methods for research into the cancer genome. Her work has opened new doors for the classification of cancer patients in line with the mutations of their tumours, to allow further steps to be taken in the application of tailored therapies that are better suited to each patient. The award ceremony will take place at the Banco Sabadell headquarters in Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona), and the bank’s Chairman, Josep Oliu, will be in attendance.

Get to know Dr López-Bigas with these 11 questions...

1.- What would Nuria López-Bigas be if she had not become a biologist? I would have enjoyed being many things. Perhaps an historian or a research journalist, or working in another scientific field.

2.- Main quality needed to be a bioinformatics engineer. One quality that any scientist needs is curiosity, regardless of the field in which they are working. In bioinformatics, you also need to have an interest in data analysis, statistics, programming… but in the end, fur us these are tools that we use to find answers to biology questions, curiosity is what drives us, it is our driving force.

3.- Young Nuria López-Bigas dreamed of being…. Many things, probably something different every day.

4.- And now she dreams of becoming…. I like what I am; all I want is to stay healthy in order to continue being what I am.

5.- What is the one quality that a person should have? Honesty.

6.- What discovery would you like to be able to announce to the world in a few years? I don’t know, you never know where research will take you.

7.- What do you do to concentrate? I need an interesting problem about which to think about.

8.- Do you work with music or in silence? In silence, although I can concentrate if there is background music or noise. I don’t tend to put music on to work though.

9.- Where do you like to go to switch off and get away from everything? Anywhere works, as long as I am with my family; the beach, the mountains, a park…

10.- E-book or paper book? Paper.

11.- What headline would you like to read one day? One announcing Barcelona as the top city in research and technology. I think that could happen.