Spanish scientists Enjuanes, Esteban and Larraga, Passion for Science Award from the #LabMeCrazy! Science Film Festival

The Science Museum of the University of Navarra has awarded the "Passion for Science" prize at the international scientific film festival #LabMeCrazy!, to the Spanish scientists Luis Enjuanes, Mariano Esteban and Vicente Larraga, in recognition of their scientific careers and their commitment to the fight against COVID-19. The director of the Festival, Bienvenido León, remarked that their work "perfectly represents the values that we want to promote with this award: excellence, tenacity and innovation. They are, without a doubt, examples of people who have a passion for science".

The three researchers from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) have been working for decades on the development of vaccines against infectious diseases. Now, they have returned to the laboratories with their teams, to contribute to the development of new vaccines against COVID-19. The proposal of Luis Enjuanes´s team is a vaccine, which blocks the entry of the virus through the nose by means of a sterilizing spray, thus preventing infection. Although animal trials are currently underway, human clinical trials are expected to begin later this year. Mariano Esteban´s team proposal is a vaccine which uses a modified virus from the smallpox family, and is awaiting authorization from the Spanish Medicines Agency to begin human trials. Vicente Larraga's vaccine is based on synthetic DNA technology, unlike that of his colleagues, and clinical trials are expected to begin by the end of 2022. 

The three scientists have expressed their gratitude for this recognition that rewards their research careers. "I have always been passionate about science and the Prize is a recognition of the achievements in my scientific career," said Esteban. For Enjuanes, research has occupied a large part of his life and he has lived it with real passion: "The passion for science, and particularly for Virology, has evoked very strong feelings and is absorbing". Larraga also emphasized: "For me, this award is an honor and a stimulus. The recognition of other researchers is a satisfaction and an incentive that helps us to strive to achieve a protective vaccine against COVID19 that is useful for the most disadvantaged people on the planet".

In the first addition of #LabMeCrazy! Francis Mójica, a researcher with the Universidad de Alicante, received the prize for his findings in the development of CRISPR-Cas technology. Last year, Spanish scientist Margarita del Val, a virologist and researcher at the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Center (CSIC-UAM) in Madrid, received the prize. The prize “Pasión por la Ciencia” will be presented at the awards gala of the III edition of #LabMeCrazy! Science Film Festival, which will take place on Thursday, 24 February. The following day, on 25 February, the three scientists will participate in a round table session with students and young researchers from the University of Navarra

#LabMeCrazy! Science Film Festival is an international scientific film festival, promoted by the Science Museum of the University of Navarra -with the collaboration of the Government of Navarra, Pamplona City Council, Laboral Kutxa and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology FECYT/Ministry of Science and Innovation-, which aims to bring science closer to society and especially to the new generations. The activities of the III edition of the festival will be take place from February 21 to 24 in Pamplona.

Further information about the prize winners

→ Luis Enjuanes has worked in Virology for more than 40 years and has published more than 220 articles in international journals and 58 book chapters. He is currently Research Professor and head of the Coronavirus Laboratory at the National Biotechnology Center of CSIC where he studies the mechanisms of replication, transcription, virulence and virus-host interaction of coronaviruses. Enjuanes lectures in the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and in the Pastuer Institute in Paris. Some of his most important accolades include appointment as a member of the National Academy of Science of the United States; academician of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences;  appointment as a member of the North American Academy of Microbiology; medal for Merit in Research and University Education awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation; distinguished virologist by the Spanish Society of Virology; consultant to the World Health Organization; and editor-in-chief of the journal "Virus Research".

→ Vicente Larraga is a research professor and is head of the Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology and Vaccines at the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas-Margarita Salas of the CSIC where he has been researching for 30 years on the development of DNA vaccines against leishmaniasis, and currently against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. With more than 130 published articles in journals and books, he is a member of the Spanish society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; of the Science academy of New York; Spanish Society of Tropical Medicine and International Health; and the Spanish Society of Parasitology. Some of Professor Larraga's achievements: he was a member of the General Section of the National R&D Plan. (1987-89), vice president of the CSIC (1989-92) and director of the Biological Research Center (2005-2012).  He is a member of the Royal National Academy of Pharmacy.

→ Mariano Esteban is a research professor at the CSIC and head of the Poxvirus and vaccines group of the national center of Biotechnology.  His research has focused on understanding the molecular biology of pathogens such as viruses in order to develop procedures for the control of infectious diseases. He has published 240 articles in international journals, presented 250 papers at national and international conferences and has obtained 6 patents. A speaker at conferences , a professor in several countries and a member of several international scientific associations including the British Association of Microbiology, New York Academy of Sciences , and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Esteban has obtained several scientific distinctions such as the New York Board of Health Award or the appointment of Full Academician of the Royal National Academy of Pharmacy.