Rubén Martín wins the II Banco Sabadell Foundation Award for Science and Engineering, and Daniel López Serrano wins the XIII Award for Biomedical Research

The panel of judges of the II Banco Sabadell Foundation Award for Science and Engineering have recognised Prof. Rubén Martín for his innovative and creative vision of chemical catalysis and his responses to the needs and requirements of society in a context of sustainable development. The panel of judges of the XIII Banco Sabadell Foundation Award for Biomedical Research has recognised Dr Daniel López Serrano as the 2018 award winner for his innovative contribution in the field of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, a topic which is immensely relevant in terms of biomedicine and health on a global scale. Both awards consist of 50,000 euros prize money each, and the objective of these awards is to recognise the work carried out by young researchers in the field of biomedicine and health sciences, as well as science and engineering.

D’esquerra a dreta: Dr. Daniel López Serrano, XIII Premi Fundació Banc Sabadell a la Investigació Biomèdica; i Prof. Rubén Martín, II Premi Fundació Banc Sabadell a les Ciències i l’Enginyeria.

More information about Dr Daniel López Serrano, XXX Banco Sabadell Foundation Award for Biomedical Research.

Daniel López Serrano (Murcia 1977) holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Murcia. Since 2014 he has led his own laboratory as a senior scientist at CSIC at the National Centre for Biotechnology. His line of research is focused on the field of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.

He has discovered a new pharmacological intervention to resolve this important problem: the existence of lipid rafts in bacterial membranes and the importance of the evolution of bacterial populations in biofilms which they form on biological surfaces. His results will contribute, in general, to reducing risk in infectious processes in clinical conditions, and particularly in surgical procedures.

More information about the professor. II Banco Sabadell Foundation Award for Science and Engineering

Holder of a degree and PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Barcelona, after five years of carrying out post-doctoral stays in the field of organometallic catalysis. In 2018 he began his career at the Catalan Institute of Chemical Research (ICIQ, Tarragona). In 2013 he was promoted to associate professor, and then to research professor ICREA. He currently leads a research group of 17 PhD students and post-doctoral researchers at ICIQ Tarragona.

Prof. Rubén Martín has won awards for his innovative and creative vision of chemical catalysis and the needs and requirements of society in a context of sustainable development. One of the most notable lines of his research is based on designing “magic wands” which are able to prepare fatty acids through setting contaminating gasses such as carbon dioxide (CO2) in saturated hydrocarbons deriving from petrol. This research is very relevant, given that fatty acids are vital in the chemical, textile, cosmetics and food sector, with a market value that will reach 20,000 million dollars in 2023.