Department: Morfología y Biología Celular

Area: Cell Biology

Research group: BIOLOGIA REDOX

Was part of these groups:

Email: sainzrosa@uniovi.es

Doctor by the Universidad de Oviedo with the thesis Mecanismos de acción de la melatonina como agente modulador en los procesos de muerte celular 1998. Supervised by Dr. Carmen Rodríguez Sánchez.

Dr. Sainz graduated with her Ph.D. from the University of Oviedo in 1998. In 1999, she was awarded a scholarship from the Health Ministry of the Spanish Government (BEFI Program FIS ISCIII) and spent six months at the University of Texas. During her doctoral studies, she focused on the anti-apoptotic properties of the neuroindole melatonin in the thymus, graduating "Cum Laude" with Special Distinction. In 2001, Dr. Sainz joined the Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas, USA, under the mentorship of Dr. Russel J. Reiter, supported by a Fulbright-MEC scholarship. Her postdoctoral research centered on the role of melatonin and redox signaling in cancer cell survival and resistance to conventional therapies. In 2005, she was awarded a prestigious research contract from the “Ramón y Cajal” Program, returning to the University of Oviedo as an independent investigator. Since 2010, Dr. Sainz has served as an Associate Professor of Cellular Biology and leads the Redox Biology Group, where her research focuses on the role of redox control in tumor progression and the survival mechanisms of tumor cells under oxygen and nutrient deprivation. Her group has also described the role of mitochondrial superoxide dismutase in advanced stages of various tumor types. Dr. Sainz teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the University of Oviedo. Her research has been funded by numerous grants from the National Research Plan (FIS ISCIII and MINECO), the Regional Research Plan, and the H2020 (ERA-HDLD) program. In addition, she collaborates with national and international scientific committees and serves on the editorial boards of several journals. She is an active member of multiple scientific societies and has published 104 peer-reviewed articles, garnering over 11,000 citations with a Hirsch index (h-index) of 50 (WOS). She is also a co-founder of BIOQUOCHEM S.L. and continues to serve as a member of its advisory board. Currently, Dr. Sainz is the president of the Spanish Society for Cell Biology (SEBC). According to The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), she is ranked 249th in the “Ranking of Spanish and Foreign Female Researchers in Spain” and 22nd in Endocrinology and Metabolism research in Spain (https://grupodih.info/biologia.html).