Sara García Alonso

Sara García Alonso
Sara García Alonso
	García Alonso in 2022
Born	1989 (age 34–35); León, Spain
Education	University of León (BS, MD); University of Salamanca (PhD);
Occupation	Scientist
	Scientific career
Institutions	Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (2019–)
Thesis	Anticuerpos conjugados a fármacos frente a receptores ErbB: Nuevas indicaciones y mecanismos de resistencia (2018)
	Space career
ESA reserve astronaut
Selection	2022 ESA Group

Sara García Alonso (born 1989) is a Spanish cancer researcher and reserve ESA astronaut. Since 2019, she has been a postdoctoral researcher at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre. In 2022, she was chosen as a reserve astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps.

Education and academic career

García attended University of León, where she earned a bachelor's degree in biotechnology in 2012 and a master's degree in biomedical and biological research in 2013.^[1]

As a doctoral candidate at University of Salamanca, García conducted research on cancer medicine as a university research assistant for the Spanish National Research Council. She earned a doctorate cum laude in the nuclear biology of cancer and translational medicine in the university's Cancer Research Centre [es] in 2018,^[1]^[2]^[3] advised by Atanasio Pandiella Alonso.^[4] Her doctoral dissertation focused on mechanisms of resistance to antibody-drug conjugates in ErbB receptors^[a]^[4] and it won her the university's Outstanding Doctorate Award the following year.^[1]

Since 2019, she has been working as a postdoctoral researcher on drug discovery and experimental oncology at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, where she has led a project to discover drugs for lung cancer and pancreatic cancer in the laboratory of Mariano Barbacid.^[5]^[1] Her research has focused on RAF1 selective degraders as a therapeutic target, in order to combat certain forms of cancers.^[6] She participated in a 6-month training programme at IE Business School, in Madrid, in 2021. She has volunteered for the Spanish Association Against Cancer [es], a nonprofit organisation.^[1]

Astronaut career

The European Space Agency (ESA) selected García as a reserve astronaut for the 2022 selection of astronauts of the European Astronaut Corps.^[7]^[8] García and fellow astronaut candidate Pablo Álvarez Fernández, both natives of León, Spain, are the first Spaniards selected by the ESA since Pedro Duque joined the European Astronaut Corps in 1992.^[8]^[9] They were selected from more than 22,500 candidates across Europe.^[8] As a reserve astronaut, García will continue her current job, and will begin training if found to be an ideal candidate for a future space mission.^[8]

Personal life

García was born in León, Spain, in 1989.^[9] In addition to her biomedical research, she has worked as a personal trainer and a nutrition coach.^[3]

Notes

^ The title of her doctoral dissertation, in Spanish, is: "Anticuerpos conjugados a fármacos frente a receptores ErbB: Nuevas indicaciones y mecanismos de resistencia".^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Sara García Alonso". esa.int. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
^ Corbella, Josep (23 November 2022). "Sara García Alonso, la investigadora del cáncer seleccionada como astronauta" [Sara García Alonso, the cancer researcher selected as an astronaut]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b Rey, Álvaro Sánchez (23 November 2022). "Artes marciales y feminismo: así es Sara García, la nueva astronauta española de la ESA" [Martial arts and feminism: this is Sara García, the new Spanish astronaut at ESA]. Vanitatis (in Spanish). El Confidencial. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Tesis Defendidas en la Universidad de Salamanca en el Curso 2019/20" [Theses Defended at the University of Salamanca in the 2019/20 Academic Year] (PDF) (in Spanish). University of Salamanca. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
^ "Sara García-Alonso, la española seleccionada por la ESA como astronauta suplente" [Sara García-Alonso, the Spaniard selected by ESA as a substitute astronaut]. El Periódico (in Spanish). 24 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
^ "Postdoctoral Fellows". Mariano Barbacid Laboratory. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
^ "ESA presents new generation of astronauts". esa.int. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d de Jorge, Judith (23 November 2022). "Dos españoles, una investigadora del cáncer y un ingeniero, nuevos astronautas de la Agencia Espacial Europea" [Two Spaniards, a cancer researcher and an engineer, new astronauts of the European Space Agency]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Pablo Álvarez y Sara García: la Agencia Espacial Europea elige a dos españoles por primera vez en 30 años" [Pablo Álvarez and Sara García: the European Space Agency chooses two Spaniards for the first time in 30 years]. Público (in Spanish). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.

[5] The title of her doctoral dissertation, in Spanish, is: "Anticuerpos conjugados a fármacos frente a receptores ErbB: Nuevas indicaciones y mecanismos de resistencia".^[4]

[esa.int-1] "Sara García Alonso". esa.int. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.

[La_Vanguardia_2022-2] Corbella, Josep (23 November 2022). "Sara García Alonso, la investigadora del cáncer seleccionada como astronauta" [Sara García Alonso, the cancer researcher selected as an astronaut]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 November 2022.

[Vanitatis_2022-3] Rey, Álvaro Sánchez (23 November 2022). "Artes marciales y feminismo: así es Sara García, la nueva astronauta española de la ESA" [Martial arts and feminism: this is Sara García, the new Spanish astronaut at ESA]. Vanitatis (in Spanish). El Confidencial. Retrieved 23 November 2022.

[University_document_on_thesis-4] "Tesis Defendidas en la Universidad de Salamanca en el Curso 2019/20" [Theses Defended at the University of Salamanca in the 2019/20 Academic Year] (PDF) (in Spanish). University of Salamanca. Retrieved 31 December 2022.

[6] "Sara García-Alonso, la española seleccionada por la ESA como astronauta suplente" [Sara García-Alonso, the Spaniard selected by ESA as a substitute astronaut]. El Periódico (in Spanish). 24 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.

[7] "Postdoctoral Fellows". Mariano Barbacid Laboratory. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.

[8] "ESA presents new generation of astronauts". esa.int. Retrieved 28 November 2022.

[:1-9] Jorge, Judith (23 November 2022). "Dos españoles, una investigadora del cáncer y un ingeniero, nuevos astronautas de la Agencia Espacial Europea" [Two Spaniards, a cancer researcher and an engineer, new astronauts of the European Space Agency]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 December 2022.

[publico.es_2022-10] "Pablo Álvarez y Sara García: la Agencia Espacial Europea elige a dos españoles por primera vez en 30 años" [Pablo Álvarez and Sara García: the European Space Agency chooses two Spaniards for the first time in 30 years]. Público (in Spanish). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.

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