Sara García Alonso

Sara García Alonso
Sara García Alonso
Born	1989 (age 34–35); León, Spain
Education	University of León (BS, MD); University of Salamanca (PhD);
Occupation	Scientist
	Scientific career
Institutions	Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (2019–)
Thesis	Anticuerpos conjugados a fármacos frente a receptores ErbB: Nuevas indicaciones y mecanismos de resistencia (2018)
	Space career
ESA reserve astronaut
Selection	2022 ESA Group

Sara García Alonso (born 1989) is a Spanish cancer researcher and reserve ESA astronaut. Since 2019, she has been a postdoctoral researcher at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre. In 2022, she was chosen as a reserve astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps.

Education and academic career[edit]

García attended University of León, where she earned a bachelor's degree in biotechnology in 2012 and a master's degree in biomedical and biological research in 2013.^[1]

As a doctoral candidate at University of Salamanca, García conducted research on cancer medicine as a university research assistant for the Spanish National Research Council. She earned a doctorate cum laude in the nuclear biology of cancer and translational medicine in the university's Cancer Research Centre [es] in 2018,^[1]^[2]^[3] advised by Atanasio Pandiella Alonso.^[4] Her doctoral dissertation focused on mechanisms of resistance to antibody-drug conjugates in ErbB receptors^[a]^[4] and it won her the university's Outstanding Doctorate Award the following year.^[1]

Since 2019, she has been working as a postdoctoral researcher on drug discovery and experimental oncology at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, where she has led a project to discover drugs for lung cancer and pancreatic cancer in the laboratory of Mariano Barbacid.^[5]^[1] Her research has focused on RAF1 selective degraders as a therapeutic target, in order to combat certain forms of cancers.^[6] She participated in a 6-month training programme at IE Business School, in Madrid, in 2021. She has volunteered for the Spanish Association Against Cancer [es], a nonprofit organisation.^[1]

Astronaut career[edit]

The European Space Agency (ESA) selected García as a reserve astronaut for the 2022 selection of astronauts of the European Astronaut Corps.^[7]^[8] García and fellow astronaut candidate Pablo Álvarez Fernández [es], both natives of León, Spain, are the first Spaniards selected by the ESA since Pedro Duque joined the European Astronaut Corps in 1992.^[8]^[9] They were selected from more than 22,500 candidates across Europe.^[8] As a reserve astronaut, García will continue her current job, and will begin training if found to be an ideal candidate for a future space mission.^[8]

Personal life[edit]

García was born in León, Spain, in 1989.^[9] In addition to her biomedical research, she has worked as a personal trainer and a nutrition coach.^[3]

Notes[edit]

^ The title of her doctoral dissertation, in Spanish, is: "Anticuerpos conjugados a fármacos frente a receptores ErbB: Nuevas indicaciones y mecanismos de resistencia".^[4]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Sara García Alonso". esa.int. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
^ Corbella, Josep (23 November 2022). "Sara García Alonso, la investigadora del cáncer seleccionada como astronauta" [Sara García Alonso, the cancer researcher selected as an astronaut]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b Rey, Álvaro Sánchez (23 November 2022). "Artes marciales y feminismo: así es Sara García, la nueva astronauta española de la ESA" [Martial arts and feminism: this is Sara García, the new Spanish astronaut at ESA]. Vanitatis (in Spanish). El Confidencial. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Tesis Defendidas en la Universidad de Salamanca en el Curso 2019/20" [Theses Defended at the University of Salamanca in the 2019/20 Academic Year] (PDF) (in Spanish). University of Salamanca. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
^ "Sara García-Alonso, la española seleccionada por la ESA como astronauta suplente" [Sara García-Alonso, the Spaniard selected by ESA as a substitute astronaut]. El Periódico (in Spanish). 24 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
^ "Postdoctoral Fellows". Mariano Barbacid Laboratory. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
^ "ESA presents new generation of astronauts". esa.int. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d de Jorge, Judith (23 November 2022). "Dos españoles, una investigadora del cáncer y un ingeniero, nuevos astronautas de la Agencia Espacial Europea" [Two Spaniards, a cancer researcher and an engineer, new astronauts of the European Space Agency]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Pablo Álvarez y Sara García: la Agencia Espacial Europea elige a dos españoles por primera vez en 30 años" [Pablo Álvarez and Sara García: the European Space Agency chooses two Spaniards for the first time in 30 years]. Público (in Spanish). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.

[5] The title of her doctoral dissertation, in Spanish, is: "Anticuerpos conjugados a fármacos frente a receptores ErbB: Nuevas indicaciones y mecanismos de resistencia".^[4]

[esa.int-1] "Sara García Alonso". esa.int. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.

[La_Vanguardia_2022-2] Corbella, Josep (23 November 2022). "Sara García Alonso, la investigadora del cáncer seleccionada como astronauta" [Sara García Alonso, the cancer researcher selected as an astronaut]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 November 2022.

[Vanitatis_2022-3] Rey, Álvaro Sánchez (23 November 2022). "Artes marciales y feminismo: así es Sara García, la nueva astronauta española de la ESA" [Martial arts and feminism: this is Sara García, the new Spanish astronaut at ESA]. Vanitatis (in Spanish). El Confidencial. Retrieved 23 November 2022.

[University_document_on_thesis-4] "Tesis Defendidas en la Universidad de Salamanca en el Curso 2019/20" [Theses Defended at the University of Salamanca in the 2019/20 Academic Year] (PDF) (in Spanish). University of Salamanca. Retrieved 31 December 2022.

[6] "Sara García-Alonso, la española seleccionada por la ESA como astronauta suplente" [Sara García-Alonso, the Spaniard selected by ESA as a substitute astronaut]. El Periódico (in Spanish). 24 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.

[7] "Postdoctoral Fellows". Mariano Barbacid Laboratory. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.

[8] "ESA presents new generation of astronauts". esa.int. Retrieved 28 November 2022.

[:1-9] Jorge, Judith (23 November 2022). "Dos españoles, una investigadora del cáncer y un ingeniero, nuevos astronautas de la Agencia Espacial Europea" [Two Spaniards, a cancer researcher and an engineer, new astronauts of the European Space Agency]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 December 2022.

[publico.es_2022-10] "Pablo Álvarez y Sara García: la Agencia Espacial Europea elige a dos españoles por primera vez en 30 años" [Pablo Álvarez and Sara García: the European Space Agency chooses two Spaniards for the first time in 30 years]. Público (in Spanish). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.

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