Joan Miguel Ávila in 2022, together with his PhD supervisors and the thesis committee | Grupo MetBioCat.
Dr. Joan Miguel Ávila has been awarded for the best thesis of 2022 in the field of biological chemistry by the Specialised Group in Biological Chemistry of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ-QEGB). Supervised by Prof. José Luis Mascareñas and Dr. María Tomás Gamasa at the Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials (CiQUS), his thesis focused on the development of chemical transformations with great synthetic potential in living environments through the use of organometallic catalysts, which mimic enzymes but perform chemical transformations that do not exist in nature. The possibility of synthesising specific chemical compounds inside living cells opens up a wide range of possibilities to interfere with biology in a precise and controlled way, and to develop new pharmacological strategies.
"This award is an honour for me, and an exceptional recognition of the work done by both myself and my supervisors over the last few years, as well as the impact of the knowledge we have generated," says Joan Miguel, who highlights the motivation that this recognition represents to continue his career. After his time as a member of the MetBioCat group at CiQUS, Joan Miguel is currently collaborating with Prof. Burkhard König and Prof. Olalla Vázquez in Germany in the field of bioorthogonal chemistry using photocatalysed reactions.