María José Alonso is full professor of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), since 1998. In 2006-10, she was the Vice-rector of Research and Innovation of the USC.
Her lab is specialized in the formulation of macromolecules, i.e. peptides, proteins, antigens, monoclonal antibodies and polynucleotides using polymer-based delivery systems. Her major accomplishments in research are:
(i) Pionering the design of novel nanomaterials based on the polysaccharide chitosan and arginine-rich polypeptides, of interest for intracellular protein delivery;
(ii) first time report of the encapsulation of proteins, antigens and polynucleotides into nanoparticles made of PLGA and PLA-PEG;
(ii) first time report on the influence of PEG on the capacity of nanoparticles to overcome mucosal barriers (ocular, nasal, intestinal).
She has coordinated a high number of consortia financed by the WHO, the Gates Foundation and the European Commission. Currently, she is involved in seven international projects.
She is the author of 239 scientific contributions with more than 12,200 cites (H factor 65) and the inventor of 19 patent families. Her work has been recognized with 16 Awards and, because of the impact of her papers, she has been among the TOP TEN in Pharmacology (Times Higher Education international ranking).
She is a member of three Academies in Spain and she was recently nominated as a member of the US National Academy of Medicine.
She has hold important responsibilities in scientific societies, and she is currently the Secretary of the Controlled Release Society (CRS, inc). She also serves on the editorial board of the 11 journals.