Workshop From Science to Society

Marina Cler

Marina is a Ph.D. Biomedical Engineer. She holds a B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering (Universidad Carlos III Madrid) and a M.Sc. in Bioinformatics and Big Data (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Karolinska Institutet, and Stockholm University). During her undergraduate and postgraduate studies, Marina performed research in internationally recognized institutions such as the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (Harvard Medical School), SciLifeLab (Karolinska Institutet), Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO), or the Krasnow Institute of Advanced Study (George Mason University), among others.

She completed her Ph.D. studies in Biomedical Engineering at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia as a "La Caixa" Fellow. Her research focused on developing therapies to promote in situ cardiac regeneration to alleviate the aftermaths of myocardial infarction. She was also a visiting scholar at Imperial College London and Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR). Marina is a member of the Rafael del Pino Alumni Board as well as the co-President of its Club of Scientists.

Paula Martín González

Paula Martin-Gonzalez is a third-year PhD student at Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute where her work focuses on developing predictive models for cancer using medical image analysis. She is also a visiting researcher at the Alan Turing Institute where she seeks to develop further graph representation learning methods in the field of medical imaging.

She has received the STEM for Britain award run by the House of Commons Parliamentary Scientific Committee, recognizing the impact of her research on predictive modelling applied to healthcare. She is also the Treasurer of the Rafael del Pino Alumni Association as well as the co-President of its Club of Scientists where she seeks to advance the role scientific innovation on the Spanish economy.

Diego Rodríguez Mejías

Diego is a Senior Policy Adviser at the Regulatory Horizons Council, an independent expert committee sponsored by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, where he advises the UK Government on regulatory reform to support the safe and rapid development of emerging technologies. He recently led the publication of a report on the regulation of neurotechnology. Previously, he worked at the UK Government’s Office for Science and at the GSMA, the global association representing the mobile telecommunications industry. Diego holds a Master’s degree in Technology Policy from the University of Cambridge, funded by a scholarship from the Rafael del Pino Foundation, and a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Philosophy from King’s College London.

Tony Kauzarides

Tony Kouzarides is Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Cambridge, Deputy Director of the Gurdon Institute, and Director of the Milner Therapeutics Institute. He completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge and undertook postdoctoral research at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, studying the cancer-inducing potential of human cytomegalovirus. He later joined the NYU Medical Centre in New York, where he worked on the c-Fos oncoprotein and the characterisation of the leucine zipper, before returning to Cambridge to establish his own research group at the Gurdon Institute. Tony serves on the Executive Board of the Cambridge Cancer Centre and on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the CRG in Barcelona and CABIMER in Seville. He is the founder and director of the Spanish cancer charity Vencer el Cáncer (Conquer Cancer), which raises public funds to support cancer research. He is also a co-founder of Abcam plc and of two UK-based cancer drug discovery companies, Chroma Therapeutics and STORM Therapeutics.

Leire Escudero-Ibarz

Leire is an Associate Director at AstraZeneca, where she leads cross-functional teams in functional genomics and early-stage drug discovery across immunology, respiratory medicine, oncology and cell therapy, driven by the belief that every novel target offers an opportunity to change a life. Originally from Barcelona, she holds an MSc in Immune Molecular Pathology from Imperial College London and a PhD in Cancer Genetics from the University of Cambridge. Her career in the industry has taken her through GSK, Horizon Discovery and AstraZeneca, where she has built and scaled phenotypic and CRISPR-based screening and iPSC capabilities, combining advanced perturbation libraries with physiologically relevant models and AI-driven analysis of large-scale genetic screening datasets to translate complex biology into decisive portfolio decisions. An entrepreneurial leader and former co-founder of a Cambridge-based healthcare start-up, she brings a purposeful and inclusive approach to both science and team building. Beyond R&D, she strengthens scientific communities as a founding leader of the HBA Cambridge branch and an active mentor and judge for innovation programmes.

Fernando Gomollón Bel

Fernando holds a PhD in Chemistry and is a science communicator based in Cambridge, UK. In 2022, he co-founded Agata Communications, a start-up focused on bringing science and innovation to the right audiences. The company is currently a partner in various Horizon Europe grants totalling over €15 million. Specialising in science writing and storytelling, he has also contributed to popular science magazines such as Chemistry World, Principia and C&EN, as well as several media outlets (newspapers, radio and TV) in Spain. Before joining Agata, he worked in science writing, science communication and public relations, first as an intern at the Royal Society of Chemistry, then as Press Coordinator at the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), one of the most prestigious chemistry research centres in Europe. He then moved to the University of Cambridge to work as Deputy Communications Leader at the Graphene Flagship, one of the largest research projects ever funded by the European Commission, with €1 billion in funding over a ten-year period.

Cheryl Smythe

After falling in love with biochemistry at school, Cheryl studied it at Trinity College in Dublin, then went on to do her PhD at the University of Cambridge. Following a post-doc at Imperial College London, she worked in research management at Babraham Institute developing collaborations, supporting grant applications, contributing to policy development for science, and leading the equality, diversity and inclusion team. Cheryl now works at Altos Labs, a new biotech that aims to bring the best of academia together with the best of industry in the pursuit of reversing disease through reprogramming cells and tissues. Come and talk to her about... developing strategic partnerships and collaborations, policy for science, the myth of meritocracy, making great environments for doing great science and must see Netflix series, the joys and challenges of rescue dogs, single malt whiskeys and pantomime.

Agata Nyga

Agata is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in biomedical research and entrepreneurial ventures. As the Founder of SynLaia Innovations since January 2025, Agata drives innovation within the industry. Concurrently, Agata serves as an Advisor at Migration Biotherapeutics Limited and as an Expert Reviewer for the European Commission, focusing on EU funding applications and project evaluations. Previous roles include Head of Research and Development at StemBond Technologies, leading research in cell therapy and regenerative medicine, and Investigator Scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, specializing in cancer biomechanics. Agata holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Medicine Research from Imperial College London and recently completed the EnterpriseTECH program at Cambridge Judge Entrepreneurship Centre.

Florian Markowetz

Florian is Professor of Computational Oncology at the University of Cambridge and Senior Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute. He is a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award holder and received a CRUK Future Leader in Cancer Research prize.

He holds degrees in Mathematics (Dipl. math.) and Philosophy (M.A.) from the University of Heidelberg and a Dr. rer. nat. (PhD equivalent) in Computational Biology from Free University Berlin, for which he was awarded an Otto- Hahn Medal by the Max Planck Society.

Mario de Miguel Ramos

Mario is a MEng in Telecommunications and PhD in Electronic Engineering Systems by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM). His main field of study is the design, simulation, fabrication, and characterization of piezoelectric sensors based on ZnO and AlN acoustic wave resonators for liquid and gas sensing applications. He has published 19 scientific papers and presented more than 30 contributions and invited talks at international conferences.

Mario is co-founder and member of the Advisory Board of Sorex Sensors Ltd., a spin-out from the University of Cambridge developing highly sensitive gas sensors. He is also a College Research Associate and supervisor at Sidney Sussex College, and project manager of UKTIN, the innovation network for the UK telecoms sector that brings together industry, academics, and government to catalyse telecoms R&D investment, cooperation, and commercialisation.