Sonia Vega Sánchez

Centre: BIFI
Institution: University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza (Spain)
Position: Technical and research staff hired by BIFI
E-mail: svega@bifi.es
Phone: 976 762996
Profile:  Ver  

Personal statement
After completing my degree in Biology, I undertook a research stay (2000-2003) as a visiting investigator in the Department of Biology at Johns Hopkins University (Batimore, USA). In 2004, I joined OTRI at the University of Zaragoza as an specialist technician. Afterwards, in 2006, I was hired as a laboratory technician in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Faculty of Veterinary of the University of Zaragoza. In 2009, I was hired as a laboratory technician at the BIFI institute of the University of Zaragoza. Between  2010 and 2023, I received a grant for Technical Support Personnel from the Ministry of Science and Innovation, followed by a similar grant from the Government of Aragón. Currently, I am a laboratory technician and responsible for the managing and maintaining the experimentalist laboratories at the BIFI Institute, particularly the LACRIMA laboratory (Advanced Laboratory for Screening and Molecular Interacciones of Aragón), which gathers the experimental scientific infrastructure of the BIFI Institute dedicated to the discovery of drug delivery.

Researcher profile identity
During my ARAID research stage, I was recognised as an R4-level. My main research lines focus on the structural and functional experimental study of the proteins of biotechnology and/or biomedicine interest, the development of experimental methodologies for the study of biomolecular interactions and the functional regulation in biological systems, as well as the development of high efficiency screening procedures for drug delivery.

Why my research is important
Proteins are important biomolecules involved in almost every function performed by living beings. As a result,  several proteins can be considered  as target molecules for the development of therapeutic treatments for various diseases. By using a small molecule, we can block an essential protein of a pathogenic microorganism or block a desregulated protein in our own body. To achieve this, our laboratory studies the behaviour and function of medically relevant proteins. With this knowledge, we design screening procedures to discover small molecules that interact with them and, afterwards, improve them from a therapeutic point of view. So far, we have led or participated in the discovery of potential drugs against hepatitis C, gastric ulcer, phenylketonuria, pancreatic cancer, Rett syndrome, chronic inflammation, colon cancer, and COVID-19.

Know more about me and my research
– https://bifi.es/scientific-equipment/