Researcher Ángela Nieto, from the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint research centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), will be featured on the ONCE coupon to be issued on 18 July. The initiative, developed by ONCE in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain (RAC), recognises the achievements of leading women scientists and will feature her image on 5.5 million coupons distributed across Spain.
Photo: ONCE lottery ticket from July 18th dedicated to researcher Ángela Nieto.
The coupon, dedicated to the Valencian Community, was presented yesterday in Alicante at an event attended by Manuel Pineda, Deputy Government Delegate in Alicante; Estela Medina, Director of ONCE in Alicante; José Bonet, Secretary General of the RAC; and Ángela Nieto herself. Also attending were Ángel Carbonell, Vice-Rector for Research and Knowledge Transfer at Miguel Hernández University, and María Teresa García, Manager of the IN CSIC-UMH.
During the presentation, Ángela Nieto expressed her appreciation for being part of the ‘Women in Science’ series and highlighted the value of the project: “I would like to thank the ONCE Foundation for this initiative, which brings the Royal Academy of Sciences’ outstanding work in promoting and disseminating science closer to society, as well as the RAC for the opportunity to highlight women members of the Academy, reflecting the growing presence of women scientists in leadership positions within scientific institutions”.
Photo: Estela Medina, Manuel Pineda, Ángela Nieto and José Bonet at the coupon presentation held yesterday in Alicante.
Raising the visibility of women scientists in Spain
ONCE’s ‘Women in Science’ series is dedicated to women members of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain, which collaborated in selecting the scientists honoured. The initiative recognises pioneering researchers in their respective fields while promoting the visibility of women in science.
The collection features 18 women members of the Academy representing Spain’s autonomous communities, except for Catalonia and Madrid, which each have two representatives. The coupon dedicated to the Valencian Community honours Ángela Nieto, an internationally recognised leader in biomedical research.
A distinguished scientific career
Ángela Nieto’s research has been instrumental in demonstrating that the reactivation of embryonic developmental programmes plays a fundamental role in several adult diseases, including cancer progression, fibrosis, and bone growth and mineralisation. Her work has advanced our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these conditions and has opened new avenues for the development of therapeutic strategies.
Nieto graduated in Biological Sciences with a specialisation in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and obtained her PhD from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 1987. After postdoctoral training at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich and the National Institute for Medical Research in London, she returned to Spain in 1993 to join the Cajal Institute (CSIC) in Madrid. In 2004, she joined the Institute for Neurosciences (CSIC-UMH), where she heads the Cell Plasticity in Development and Disease Laboratory and leads the Cell Plasticity in Brain Disease and Repair Scientific Programme. She is a Research Professor at CSIC and has served as Spain’s scientific delegate to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL-EMBC Councils) since 2009, serving as Vice-Chair of the Council between 2022 and 2025.
Photo: Team from the Institute of Neurosciences who attended the presentation of the coupon together with the Vice-Rector for Research and Transfer of the UMH.
In addition to being elected to the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain in 2020, Ángela Nieto is also a member of the Academia Europaea, the French Academy of Sciences and the Latin American Academy of Sciences. Her distinctions include the Rei Jaume I Award for Basic Research (2009), the Valencian Government Award for Scientific Merit (2015), the Ramón y Cajal National Research Award (2019), and the L’Oréal–UNESCO For Women in Science Award for Europe (2022). She has also been awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Jaén and Jaume I University.
Further information: ONCE coupons are sold through the organisation’s network of more than 21,300 vendors, as well as via the ONCE website (www.juegosonce.es) and authorised partner retailers.
Source: Institute for Neurosciences CSIC-UMH (in.comunicacion@umh.es) / ONCE Regional Office in Alicante (dz-alicante@once.es)
La entrada Researcher Ángela Nieto featured in ONCE’s ‘Women in Science’ coupon series se publicó primero en Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante.