Marta Shahbazi, Group Leader in the LMB’s Cell Biology Division, has been accepted onto the EMBO Young Investigator Programme (YIP) for a four-year tenure. The programme is only open to group leaders who have held this position for fewer than four years. Young Investigators receive mentoring and training opportunities, financial and practical support, and become part of an international network comprising of over 700 current and former awardees.
Marta commented, “This is an exciting opportunity for my team and a recognition of our contributions to the field. I am thrilled to join this network and interact with other young group leaders.”
Marta’s research investigates pluripotent stem cells, which possess the capability to develop into an unparalleled variety of cells or tissues. In embryos, these cells change to specific shapes and identities to determine the foundation of the body. However, the molecular mechanisms and modulation of this process is not well understood. With her research group, Marta’s seeks to rectify this and uncover how epithelial tissue determinates modulate stem cell fate. In her efforts to further understanding of human embryogenesis, her group also investigates how cell fate and shape is impacted in cases of developmental failure.
Marta began her career at the Autonomus University of Madrid, where she received an undergraduate degree in Biology and an MSc degree in Molecular Biomedicine. She followed this up with a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, working in the group of Mirna Perez-Moreno at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO). She then undertook postdoctoral studies in Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz’s group at the University of Cambridge. She began leading her own research group at the LMB in 2020, and successfully navigated the difficulties of establishing her group alongside changing pandemic restrictions.
Her work using 3D tissue cultures that mimic embryo development at implantation and beyond was awarded the 2019 3Rs Prize for providing an opportunity to replace and reduce the use of mice in developmental biology studies. Marta’s research has also been recognised with the Suffrage Science award, supported by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS).
Congratulations to Teresa Thurston, who also joins the EMBO Young Investigator Programme. Teresa completed her Ph.D. in the LMB’s PNAC Division in 2011, and now leads a research group at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford. She recently returned to the LMB where she spoke at the 2024 LMB-CamAWiSE event, sharing her career journey so far.
Further references
Marta’s group page
EMBO Awards & Honours at the LMB
EMBO Young Investigator Programme