The researcher at the Institute of Molecular Science (ICMol), located in the UV Science Park, has been awarded one of the five L'Oréal-Unesco "For Women in Science" Research Awards. This award will give impetus to Isabel Abádanes' project, which studies the nanotechnology of porous multifungal materials for anticancer treatments and to improve water quality
The researcher Isabel Abánades Lázaro, Ramón y Cajal and leader of the research group Defect Engineering of Responsive Advanced Materials (DREAM) at the Institute of Molecular Science (ICMol), located in the scientific-academic area of the Science Park of the University of Valencia, has been one of the five women scientists awarded at the L'Oréal-Unesco "For Women in Science" Research Awards in its 19th edition.
This recognition is endowed with € 15,000 that ICMol will receive to support and promote during the year 2025 the project of Abádenes, focused on nanotechnology of porous multifungal materials for anticancer treatments and to improve water quality. This project aims to develop new nanosystems for directed drug release and water decontamination, using multi-functional porous materials known as metal-organic networks (MOFs). Its pioneering method allows these materials to be modified in a single step with active drugs, significantly simplifying a process that until now required several complex steps.
In the field of cancer, an innovative approach is proposed that allows a more stable binding of the drug to the material and the incorporation of "targets" on the surface, which will direct the treatment directly to the tumor cells, Improving their effectiveness and reducing side effects. In water treatment, the project will develop methodologies to control the size and pore chemistry of MOFs, favoring the absorption of pollutants such as nitrates, and generating economic, effective and recyclable materials to improve water quality.
"This L'Oréal-Unesco For Women in Science Research Award is a fundamental boost to my research, as it will allow our research group to take back the targeted release of drugs and bioapplications using metalorganic nets", Isabel Abádenes, ICMol researcher
"For me it is a very important and necessary prize to give visibility to women," says the ICMol scientist. In addition, Abádenes explains that this recognition is a fundamental impulse for his research, since it will serve to resume the directed release of drugs and bioapplications using metalorganic networks, a line of research to which Abádenes has been devoted for a long time.
The awards ceremony was held on 11 June, at the Teatro Real in Madrid, and this year 2025 also commemorated its 25th international anniversary. The L'Oréal-Unesco programme "For Women in Science" has as its main objective to promote the visibility of women in the scientific field and to recognise the valuable work of young female researchers. The ceremony, which was attended by Minister Diana Morant, served as a platform for another year to highlight women’s contribution to science and foster vocations in new generations.
Isabel Abádenes (ICMol), at the L'Oréal-UNESCO "For Women in Science" Research Awards ceremony with the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant. Photo: ICMol
This recognition is in addition to the recent Leonardo Grant awarded by the researcher for her project Multivariate Modulated MOFs for Nitrate Water Remediation", which focuses on the development of advanced reticular materials (MOFs) Specifically designed for the efficient removal of nitrates from contaminated water.
Do not miss our reel "What are MOFs?" in which we have the explanation of Isabel Abánades
Source: ICMol, Nueva Alcarria and own elaboration