The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, met this Tuesday with a group of researchers from the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) in the institution's Scientific Library, located on its central campus on Calle Serrano in Madrid. During the meeting, Sánchez was able to find out details about the research carried out by Auxiliadora Prieto, Marta Miguel and Oksana Udovyk, focused on the biodegradation of plastics, new functional foods and citizen science and sustainability, respectively. The meeting was attended by the Minister for Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, the Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Pilar Alegría, and the President of the CSIC, Eloísa del Pino.

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Auxiliadora Prieto, a CSIC researcher at the Margarita Salas Biological Research Center (CIB), has directed the Polymer Biotechnology group (POLYBIO) at the CIB since 2012, focused on the study of microbial metabolism and the molecular characterization of pathways related to the biosynthesis and biodegradation of bioplastics. She has coordinated and participated as principal investigator in 40 national and international research projects. In addition, she is the author of more than 100 scientific publications, has private contracts with industries in the plastics sector, and is the main inventor of 11 families of patents related to the production of bioplastics.

 

Prieto, co-founder of the CSIC spin-off Biodriven Technologies SL, is coordinator of the CSIC Interdisciplinary Platform for Sustainable Plastics for a Circular Economy (SusPlast), which is made up of 25 participants from the private sector and 18 CSIC institutes, including 32 multidisciplinary specialists in the sustainable management of plastics. Since January 2023, Susplast participates in the CSIC Technical Advisory for the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (CIN) on plastic pollution within the framework of Resolution 5/14 of the United Nations Environment Assembly, to develop an instrument legally binding international law on plastic pollution, whose National Focal Point reports to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

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Marta Miguel, a researcher at the Institute for Research in Food Sciences (CIAL-CSIC-UAM), leads the Bioactive Gastronomy research group at this center. His work focuses on the design and obtaining of new ingredients and functional foods to improve people's health, well-being and quality of life, whose biological basis and mechanism of action are scientifically supported, as well as investigating sensory characteristics and potentialities. culinary properties of these foods or developed functional ingredients. She is the author of more than 130 articles in specialized magazines and co-inventor of 12 patents or industrial secrets, 6 of them international and 4 licensed to companies.

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Likewise, Miguel is co-founder of the spin-off iLike Food Innovation SL, a disruptive innovation company in the agri-food and gastronomy sector, whose main objective is the development of solutions to the challenges posed by the food industry.

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Oksana Udovyk, a Ukrainian researcher at INGENIO, a joint institute of the CSIC and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), decided to move to Spain almost a year ago, weeks before the Russian invasion of her country. In kyiv, Udovyk worked for the United Nations developing citizen science and sustainability projects in cities. His move to Valencia has meant being able to collaborate with his country of origin in the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities and his return to the academic world after completing his doctoral thesis in Sweden ten years ago.

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