Between February and April 2025, I had the opportunity to carry out a three-month secondment at the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB-CSIC) in Madrid, Spain, under the supervision of Dr. Ana Cuenda. Her group is internationally recognized for its work in signal transduction and inflammation, particularly focusing on the MAP kinase pathways and their roles in cellular stress responses and immune regulation.
This secondment represented a continuation and expansion of my doctoral work in the Schirmeister group at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, which specializes in the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of cysteine protease inhibitors, including Cathepsin S, a protease with crucial roles in cancer progression and immune modulation.
During my stay at CNB-CSIC, I had the opportunity to test in cell lines the fluorescent Cathepsin S inhibitor-based probes that I developed in Mainz. Working closely with doctoral candidate 6, Alberto Bigogno, I explored the affinity and selectivity of these probes and their potential for imaging applications in complex biological systems. This collaboration allowed me to strengthen my experimental expertise in cell culture, protein extraction and quantification, SDS-PAGE, and Western Blot.
Beyond the technical achievements, this experience highlighted how groups with distinct scientific focuses, namely medicinal chemistry and signal transduction, can intersect to generate new insights and collaborative opportunities. It was inspiring to see how complementary expertise can merge to address challenging questions at the interface of chemistry and biology.
Overall, this secondment broadened my perspective on interdisciplinary research, deepened my practical skills, and strengthened the collaborative links between Mainz and Madrid. I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Ana Cuenda, Alberto Bigogno, and the entire CNB-CSIC team for their warm welcome and stimulating scientific environment that made this experience both productive and personally enriching. Thank you also for sharing the cell lines with AK Schirmeister. This exchange of resources and knowledge benefits more than just me as the visitng researcher.
In addition to that, this secondment also allowed me to experience the research work environment in a Research Institute and compare it with my current experience in an University setting. On top of that, I was also able to improve my communication skills in Spanish and broaden my knowledge on Spanish history and culture.
Alltogether, this secondment helped me developing scientific and personal transversal skills such as adapting to a new environment and learning fast or navigating a new lab but also a new city and culture. I'm very gratefull to have had this opportunity through the MSCA OncoProTools Doctoral Network. I have no doubt that this experience strenghtened me both specifically as a scientist and broadly as a professional.