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Isabel Abánades Lázaro

I was born in Guadalajara, Spain in 1992. I did my bachelor’s in chemistry (2010-2014) at the Universidad de Alcala de Henares (Madrid), and my final year as an Erasmus at Trinity College Dublin. I received a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Glasgow (UK) in 2018. After spending a large part of my research career abroad (2013-2018) with 5 years of international research experience (Trinity College Dublin, University of Glasgow and University of Cambridge), I obtained a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship at the Institute of Molecular Science (ICMol) of the University of Valencia in 2019. Shortly after, I was awarded a  Juan de la Cierva incorporación Fellowship (2020 call) Junior Leader ‘la Caixa’ Fellowship (2022 call), and a Ramón y Cajal Fellowship (2022 call),  with which I am currently developing my independent research leading the ‘Defect Engineering of Responsive Advanced Materials (DREAM)’ Lab.  Our research is based on the interrelation between material´s synthesis, properties and function, including applications such as catalysis, water remediation, drug delivery and gas separation, with structural characterisation at a molecular level through synchrotron studies.

Academic position

  • 31/9/2024  –date Ramón y Cajal Fellow  at the University of Valencia. 

  • 31/05/2023  –31/08/2024 Junior Leader ‘la Caixa’ Fellow  at the University of Valencia. 

  • 31/12/2021 –31/05/2023 Juan de la Cierva Postdoctoral Fellow in the CEL group at the University of Valencia. 

  • 20/09/2021 – 31/12/2021 Postdoctoral Researcher in the CEL group at the University of Valencia. ERC consolidator grant S-Cage.

  • 13/05/2021 – 20/09/2021  Career break, Volunteering for a mental health association.

  • 13/05/2019 – 13/05/2021 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018-837804 DefTiMOFs) in the FuniMat Research Group at University of Valencia.

  • 28/2/2019 – 13/05/2019 Postdoctoral Researcher in the FuniMat Research Group at the University of Valencia  (AMBICoat)’ (RTC-2017-6428-5).

  • 1/10/2018 – 28/2/2019 Postdoctoral Researcher in the FuniMat Research Group at the University of Valencia. ERC Starting Grant (Chem-fs-MOF).

  • 01/04/2018– 31/08/2018 Postdoctoral Researcher in the Forgan Research Group at the University of Glasgow. ERC Starting Grant (SCoTMOF).

  • 01/10/ 2014 – 31/03/ 2018 PhD student in the Forgan Research Group at the University of Glasgow (Dr Ross Forgan).

  • 1/09/2013 – 31/07/2014 – Undergraduate Researcher at the Bioinspired Inorganic Chemistry Research Group at Trinity College Dublin (Dr Aidan McDonald).

  • 01/06/2013 – 31/08/2013 Undergraduate Researcher in the Immunology Department of Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain (Dr Victoria del Pozo).

  • 01/06/2012 – 31/08/2012 Undergraduate Researcher in the Department of Analytical Chemistry at Universidad of Alcalá de Henares (Dr Maria Soledad Vera).

Twitter

Academic education

  • 01/10/ 2014 – 31/03/ 2018: PhD in Chemistry, University of Glasgow 

‘The Effect of Surface Functionalisation on Cancer Cells Internalisation and Selective Cytotoxicity of Zirconium Metal-Organic Frameworks’ Dr Ross Forgan as supervisor.

Courses: Responsibilities and good ethical practise in research; Presenting with impact; Effective writing; Project management; Writing for publication; X-Ray crystallography for chemists; X-Ray Radiation Safety.

  • 10/09/2010 – 25/06/2014: Chemistry Bachelor Degree with Honours. Alcalá de Henares University (UAH) Spain.
  • 1/09/2013 – 31/07/2014: Erasmus in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) – First Class Honours

‘

‘Synthesis of analogues of DACO as ligands to stabilize late transition metal-oxo complexes’’ Dr Aidan McDonald as supervisor.

Research stays in other scientific institutions

Adsorption & Advanced Materials Research Group at University of Cambridge (Dr David Fairen-Jimenez). Investigation of the cervical cancer cellular routes of internalisation of bare and surface functionalised MOFs and their correlation with their cytotoxicity when loaded with an anticancer drug. November 2016 (1 month), Funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, Mobility Grant.

Department of Immunology at Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain (Dr Victoria del Pozo). Investigating the human immune response towards MOFs as drug delivery systems (macrophages and lymphocytes uptake, reactive oxygen species production and cytotoxicity). January 2017 (1 month)

Relevant awards and distintions

2025 Early Career Researcher RSEQ-Lilly research prize (4K€)

2025 L’Oréal-Unesco For Women in Science research prize (15K€)

2024 BBVA Leonardo -Extraordinaria (50K€)

2024 Talento Jóven (Ciencia) Comunidad Valencia, CaixaBank y Levante. (4K€)

2023 Ramón y Cajal Fellowship RYC2022-036868-I. (245K€)

2023 Impulso a Jóvenes Talentos, COPE Castilla la Mancha.

2023 Honour mention Premio científico Ciudad de Algemesí.

2022 Junior Leader La Caixa Retaining Fellowship LCF/BQ/PR23/11980041 (305K€)

2022 Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ) Conference attendance grant (250 €).

2022 Selection for attendance at the 71st Chemistry Nobel Laureate Lindau Meeting.

2021 APostD (APOSTD/2021/002; 92K €) and Juan de la Cierva Fellowships (IJC2020-044374-I; 98K €)

2021 Interviewed by Chemistry Views (DOI: 10.1002/chemv.202100067)

2020 Selection for attendance at the 70th Interdisciplinary Nobel Laureate Lindau Meeting.

2019-2025 Sixteen funded ALBA, Elettra and Diamond synchrotron proposals (9 PI, 7 co-PI) (equivalent to over 500K €)

2019 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018-837804; 165 k€).

2017 PhD Award – Academic trip to University of Edinburgh.

2017 PhD Award– Honour mention granted by ABTA.

2016 MOF2016 (California, USA) Poster Presentation Award.

2016 Royal Society of Chemistry Research Mobility Grant £3000

2016-2018 Four Conference attendance mobility grants (2 RSC and 2 UoG funding)

Publications

  1. Rosales-Martínez, S. Javan Nikkhah, M. Zanatta. J. C. Martínez, M. Vandichel and I. Abánades Lázaro, Materials Horizons., just accepted.
    (DOI 10.1039/D5MH00650C)
  2. Rosales-Martínez, D. López-Alcalá, M. Assis, C. Castillo Blas, J.J. Baldoví, I. Abánades Lázaro*, «Promoting photoswitching in mismatching mixed-linker multivariate Zr6 MOFs» RSC Advances, 2024, 14, 37984-37992. (DOI: 10.1039/d4ra07366e)
  3. I. Abánades Lázaro; A. Anastasaki; H. A. Ardoña; M. Q. Arguilla; A. S. R. Bati; M. Batmunkh; Q. A. Besford; M. P. Browne; S. J. Bryant; M. Carlotti; C. Contini; C. Delaney; E. R. Draper; A. Elbourne; J. D. Evans; L. Florea; A. Forner-Cuenca; A. C. Forse; M. I. Gonzalez; S. Krause; H. Kwee Lee; M. M. Lerch; S. Liu; N. López-Salas; F. J. Martin-Martinez; C. Pezzato; L. Protesescu; F. Schaufelberger; P. Sebastián Pascual; A.Sierra Fernández; W. A. Tarpeh; G. Vilé; L. K. S. von Krbek; H. Wang; T. Wu; C.J. R. Wells; S. W. Cranford, «35 Challenges in Materials Science Being Tackled by PIs Under 35(ish) in 2024», Matter, 2024, 7, (11), 3699-3706. (DOI:  j.matt.2024.09.026)
  4. C. Rosales- Martínez, I. Abánades Lázaro*, »Unprecedented ultra-complex zeolite-like MOFS using small Magastick-like building blocks» Matter, 2024, 7, 2675. (DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2024.05.019)
  5. I. Abánades Lázaro, X. Chen, M. Ding, A. Eskandari, D. Fairen-Jimenez, M. Giménez-Marqués, R. Gref, W. Lin, T. Luo and R. S. Forgan*, »Metal–organic frameworks for biological applications» Nat. Rev. Methods Prim., 2024, 4, 42. (https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-024-00320-8)
  6. T. L. Huec, A. López-Francés, I. Abánades Lázaro, S. Navalón, H. G. Baldoví, M. Giménez-Marqués, »Heteroepitaxial MOF-on-MOF photocatalyst for solar-driven water splitting» ACS Nano, 2024, 18, 20201. (https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c03442)
  7. C. Rosales-Martínez, M. Assis*, C. Castillo Blas*, I. Abánades Lázaro*, «Tuning the electronic properties of Zr UiO-66 through defect-functionalised multivariate modulation» Chem. Commun., 2024, 60, 8280-8283. (https://doi.org/10.1039/D4CC02581D)
  8.   I. Abánades Lázaro*, M. Vicent Morales, G. Minguez Espallargas, M. Giménez-Marqués, ‘‘Hierarchical mesoporous NanoMUV-2 for the selective delivery of macromolecular drugs’’, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2023,11, 9179-9184 (DOI: 10.1039/D3TB01819A).
  9. S. Delaporte, I. Abánades Lázaro, J. Lopez-Cabrelles, E. C Mazarakioti, S. Chebourou, I. J Vitórica-Yrezábal, M. Giménez-Marqués, G. Minguez Espallargas, ‘‘Imparting structural robustness of metal–organic cages based on oxo-dimolybdenum cluster’’ Dalton Trans., 2023, 52 (43), 15682-15687. (DOI: 10.1039/D3DT02482B)
  10.       I. Abánades Lázaro, E. Mazarakioti, E. Andres-Garcia, B. J. C. Vieira, J. C. Waerenborgh, I. Vitorica-Yrzebal, M. Giménez-Marqués, G. MinguezEspallargas*, «Ultramicroporous iron-isonicotinate MOFs combining size-exclusion kinetics and thermodynamics for efficient CO2/N2 gas separation» J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023, 11, 5320-5327. (DOI: 10.1039/D2TA08934C). 
  11.  I. Abánades Lázaro*, «Rationalising the multivariate modulation of MUV-10 for the defect-introduction of multiple functionalised modulators» J. Mater. Chem. A, 2022,10, 10466-10473. (DOI: 10.1039/D2TA00603K)
  12.    I. Abánades Lázaro*, H. Szalad, P. Valiente, J. Albero, H. García, C. Martí-Gastaldo, «Tuning the Photocatalytic Activity of Ti-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks through Modulator Defect-Engineered Functionalization« ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2022, 14, 18, 21007–21017.  (DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c02668)
  13.  I. Abánades Lázaro*, R. S Forgan, F. G Cirujano* «MOF nanoparticles as heterogeneous catalysts for direct amide bond formations« Dalton Trans., 2022, 51, 8368-8376, (DOI: 10.1039/D2DT00369D)
  14. I. Abánades Lázaro, N. Almora-Barrios, S. Tatay, C. Popescu, C. Martí-Gastaldo*, Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 11839-11844. (DOI:10.1039/D1SC02408F)
  15. I. Abánades Lázaro*; J. M. Rodrigo-Muñoz;, B. Sastre;  M. Romero Ángel; C. Marti-Gastaldo; V. del Pozo*, «The excellent biocompatibility and negligible immune response of the titanium heterometallic MOF MUV-10«, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021, 9, 6144-6148. (DOI: 10.1039/D1TB00981H) Front Cover
  16.  I. Abánades Lázaro*; Catlin Popescu and Francisco G. Cirujano*, «Controlling the molecular diffusion in MOFs with the acidity of monocarboxylate modulators«, Dalton Trans., 2021, 50, 11291-11299.  (DOI: 10.1039/d1dt01773j)
  17. I. Abánades Lázaro; N. Almora-Barrios; S. Tatay; C. Marti-Gastaldo*, «Effect of modulator connectivity in promoting defectivity in titanium-organic frameworks«, Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 2586-2593. (DOI: 10.1039/D0SC06105K)
  18. I. Abánades Lázaro*,«A Comprehensive Thermogravimetric Analysis Multifaceted Method for the Exact Determination of the Composition of Multi‐functional Metal‐Organic Framework Materials«, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2020, 4284-4294. (DOI:10.1002/ejic.202000656) Top ten downloaded papers 2019-2021.
  19.    G. Osorio-Toribio, M. de J. Velásquez-Hernández,  P J. A. Zárate, J. Aguila-Rosas, G. Leyva-Gómez R. Sánchez-Sánchez, J. J. Magaña, M. A Pérez-Díaz, I. Abánades Lázaro, R. S. Forgan, G. Maurin, E. Lima and I. A. Ibarra*. «Controlled Transdermal Release of Antioxidant Ferulate by a Porous Sc(III) MOF» iScience, 2020, 23, (6) 101156. (DOI:10.1016/j.isci.2020.101156)
  20.   S. Haddad, I. Abanades Lázaro, M. Fantham, A. Mishra, G. S Kaminski Schierle, C. Kaminski, R. S. Forgan* and D. Fairen-Jimenez*. «Design of a functionalized metal-organic framework system for enhanced targeted delivery to mitochondria» J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2020, 142 (14) 6661. (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c00188) (Highlighted in chemistry world)
  21.    I. Abánades Lázaro, C. J. Wells and R. S.Forgan*. «Multivariate Modulation of the Zr MOF UiO‐66 for Defect‐Controlled Combination Anticancer Drug Delivery« Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2020, 59, 5211. (DOI: 10.1002/anie.201915848)
  22.    I. Abánades Lázaro and R. S.Forgan*. «Zirconium Metal-Organic Frameworks in Drug Delivery and Biomedicine« Coord. Chem. Rev., 2019, 380, 230-259 (DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2018.09.009)
  23.  I. Abánades Lázaro, S. Haddad, J. Rodrigo-Muñoz, C. Orellana-Tavra, V. del Pozo*, D. Fairen-Jimenez*, and Ross S. Forgan*. «Surface Functionalisation of Zr-fumarate MOF for Selective Cytotoxicity and Immune System Compatibility in Nanoscale Drug Delivery» ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2018, 10 (37) 31146-31157. (DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b11652) 
  24.   I. Abánades Lázaro, S. Abánades Lázaro and Ross S. Forgan*. «Enhancing Anticancer Cytotoxicity through Bimodal Drug Delivery from Ultrasmall Zr MOF Nanoparticles» Chem. Commun., 2018, 54, 2792-2795 (DOI: 10.1039/C7CC09739E)
  25.    I. Abánades Lázaro, S. Haddad, J. Rodrigo-Muñoz, C. Orellana-Tavra, V. del Pozo*, D. Fairen-Jimenez*, and Ross S. Forgan* «Mechanistic Investigation into the Selective Anticancer Cytotoxicity and Immune System Response of Surface Functionalised, Dichloroacetate- Loaded, UiO-66 Nanoparticles« ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2018, 10, 6, 5255-5268 (DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b17756)
  26.     C. Orellana-Tavra, S. Haddad, R. J Marshall, I. Abánades Lázaro, G. Boix, I. Imaz, D. Maspoch, R. S Forgan*, D. Fairen-Jimenez*. «Tuning the Endocytosis Mechanism of Zr-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks through Linker Functionalization« ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2017, 9 (41), 35516- 35525 (DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b07342)
  27.    I. Abánades Lázaro, R. S. Forgan*, «Image-Guided Therapy Using Maghemite-MOF Nanovectors« Chem, 2017, 3, 2, 200-202 (DOI:10.1016/j.chempr.2017.07.008) Invited article
  28.     I. Abánades Lázaro, S. Haddad, S. Sacca, C. Orellana-Tavra, D. Fairen-Jimenez* and R. S. Forgan* «Selective Surface PEGylation of UiO-66 Nanoparticles for Enhanced Stability, Cell Uptake and pH Responsive Drug Delivery« Chem,2017, 2, 561–578. (DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2017.02.005.)
  29.     C. Orellana-Tavra, R. J. Marshall, E. F. Baxter, I. Abánades Lázaro, A. Tao, A. K. Cheetham, R. S. Forgan* and D. Fairen-Jimenez* «Drug delivery and controlled release on biocompatible metal-organic frameworks using mechanical amorphization« J. Mater. Chem. B, 2016, 4, 7697-7707 (DOI:10.1039/C6TB02025A)
  30.  A. D. Ure, I. Abánades Lázaro, M. Cotter and A. R. McDonald* «Synthesis and characterisation of a mesocyclic tripodal triamine ligand« Org. Biomol. Chem., 2016, 14, 483-494 (DOI: 10.1039/C5OB01556A)