2015/01/26

Ikerbasque researcher Jesús Jiménez Barbero is appointed new scientific director at CIC bioGUNE

- A CSIC Research Professor and current president of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ), he joins the centre as an Ikerbasque researcher.

- Between 2009 and 2014 he was the director of the Department of Chemical and Physical Biology at the CSIC's Centre for Biological Research.

- He will take over the role of scientific director from José M Mato, who had held that position since its foundation and will continue to act as director general of CIC bioGUNE and CIC biomaGUNE

(Bilbao, January2015).- Jesús Jiménez Barbero, one of the most well-known figures in modern Spanish chemistry, has been appointed as the new scientific director of the bioscience research centre CIC bioGUNE, located at the Bizkaia Technology Park. Jiménez Barbero, who will join the centre as an Ikerbasque researcher, takes over from José M Mato on the occasion of the centre's tenth anniversary.

Although José M Mato will delegate management of the centre's scientific strategy to Jiménez Barbero, he will continue to act as director general of the two pioneering cooperative research centres in the Basque Country in the fields of bioscience and biomaterials, namely CIC bioGUNE and CIC biomaGUNE.

The appointment of Jesús Jiménez Barbero completes the process started several years ago by José M Mato of strengthening the scientific strategies of the two "sister" centres, with Luis Liz Marzán having taken on the scientific management of CIC biomaGUNE, located at the Miramon Technology Park (Donostia-San Sebastian), in January 2012.

In the opinion of the director general of CIC bioGUNE, José M Mato, "a good research centre needs a good scientific leader. CIC bioGUNE is already a good centre and Jesús is an excellent scientist. With him at the forefront, the scientific leadership at bioGUNE is guaranteed". Along similar lines, Fernando Cossio, scientific director at Ikerbasque, considers that "the partnership between Ikerbasque and CIC bioGUNE has converted the Basque Country into an international benchmark in bioscience".

Jiménez Barbero, in turn, is delighted to be joining the Basque research system as an Ikerbasque researcher and scientific director at CIC bioGUNE: "I'm delighted to be here and arrive with an immense willingness to work. This opportunity arose at an ideal time in my professional career, with numerous scientific projects in the pipeline that simply need the appropriate conditions to succeed. And this is the perfect setting".

"I'm convinced that Ikerbasque, CIC bioGUNE and the scientific and social context in which we find ourselves provide the best framework I could imagine for conducting my research. I firmly believe that the Basque Country values science and is fully aware of the essential role it plays in the progress of society as a whole", concludes Jiménez Barbero.

Cutting-Edge Research

CIC bioGUNE undertakes innovative research at the interface between structural, molecular and cell biology, focusing especially on the study of the molecular bases of disease for use in the development of new diagnostic methods and advanced therapies. The centre's research activities can be grouped into four main fields: cancer and ageing, infectious diseases, metabolism and disease, and protein homeostasis.

Jesús Jiménez Barbero specialises in the field of chemical biology, especially the molecular recognition mechanisms involved in protein-protein or protein-ligand interactions in processes of biomedical interest that are essential for life. Indeed, this will be his main research line at CIC bioGUNE, a task that he will share with the scientific leadership of the centre.

Scientific Career of Jesús Jiménez Barbero

Jesús Jiménez Barbero was born in Madrid in 1960. He studied chemistry at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (1982) and was awarded his doctorate in organic chemistry in 1987 while working at the Institute of Organic chemistry at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Between 1988 and 1992 he undertook various research fellowships at the University of Zürich (Switzerland), the National Institute for Medical Research (Mill Hill, UK) and at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh (USA).

After returning to Madrid to take up a position as a scientist at the CSIC, he began to work in the field of molecular recognition, especially the interaction between proteins and ligands, possible drugs or probes. More specifically, he began to study the interactions between carbohydrates and their respective receptor proteins using magnetic resonance techniques.

In 1996 he was promoted to scientific researcher at the CSIC, and in 2002 was appointed research professor at the CSIC Centre for Biological Research. He remained there until his current appointment, and was also the director of the Department of Chemical and Physical Biology between 2009 and 2014.

His most relevant research results have been published in more than 400 scientific papers in international journals and seven patents. In addition, he has given more than 200 conferences at various institutions and symposia worldwide and has supervised 19 doctoral theses.

Jiménez Barbero's achievements have also been recognised internationally with, amongst others, the 2003 Janssen-Cilag Prize in Organic Chemistry from the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ), the 2008 Bruker Prize from the magnetic resonance division of the RSEQ, and the 2010 International Whistler Award in carbohydrate chemistry.

He is currently president of the RSEQ and manager of the Basic Chemistry Programme of the Chemistry Programme for MINECO's State Research Plan. He is a member of the editorial and advisory boards of numerous international chemistry journals and is a member of the external advisory boards of various institutions, including the IRBB, ICIQ, CIQUS and CIPF.