THE biomedical engineerMaría Rioyo, graduated last year from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and this year decided to continue her studies at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. University of Colorado Boulder thanks to a double scholarship he received from the dean of the Faculty of Engineering for the program Europe Colorado Program. This university is well known for its engineering and science studies and has six Nobel Prize-winning professors.
The research he conducts focuses on tumor immunomodulationwhich is a therapy that focuses on using the immune system to make the patient’s body attack the cancer, which reduces side effects. They are developing this therapy to introduce nanoparticles inside the patient’s immune system cells.
María chose to study this because from a very young age she had the need to help others and he really liked medicine. When choosing a career, he was interested in the idea that technology could be applied to the healthcare sector, which is why he opted for Biomedical engineering. Moreover, he likes therapeutic field and immunology.
The research she is carrying out particularly interests her because since she was little, she also saw how people around her suffered from cancer and this caused great suffering to many people. That’s why he’s motivated to continue: “Even though I don’t think I’ll find a cure, I will put all my efforts and my potential to contribute my grain of sand. to this investigation,” comments the Valencian.
THE cancer research This has always been something that was on the agenda, an investigation that does not seem to be moving forward, although it is moving forward, but in small steps. This is an area of research that requires a lot of work, and María comments that it can be approached in different ways. However, he considers that there is still a long way to go and a lot of work to be done for the progress made to be seen by patients.
Among the different ways of approaching research, we see that some groups seek knowledge in different areas to try getting closer to a curewhile others try to develop diagnostic systems which allow cancer to be detected at earlier stages, so that the application of treatment is more effective and the prognosis is better. There are also therapies that directly attack the cancer or others who want develop the patient’s immune systemas is the case in which she participates.
In Spain there are also many groups dedicated to research, with interesting and avant-garde projects, but for María “IProfessional and financial opportunities are not comparable to those in Spain“. The American education system is much more flexible and concrete than the Spanish system, where subjects are studied in general terms. The engineer illustrated it this way: “If I study journalism in Spain, I will have general subjects, such as sports journalism. But in the United States, there would be topics like football sports journalism. » This is why María believes that her research could not be carried out so specifically in Spain.
Life in Colorado
His life in the United States is very different from the one he led in Spain, the pace of life is very differentas well as schedules and food. For her, it is very important to know how to organize herself well in order to be able to combine studies and social life, given that the program she is following is very demanding.
On the other hand, there is a quite multicultural environmentwhich enriches students by allowing them to discover new cultures and languages. However, there are also a lot of Spanish people, which María appreciates because she thinks that speaking their language makes her feel at home.
It’s also very different the University of Colorado campuscompared to that of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, which was much smaller. The city of Boulder is entirely dedicated to the university, so many activities are dedicated to them, in addition to many university life. It is for this reason that he would like to continue training professionally and personally in the United States, for all the opportunities they have offered him there, even if he is not closed to the idea of return in the future to his native Valencia and continue his work there.
The opportunities that have been presented to María are not only academic, because being there allows her to travel to new places and develop something she loves, i.e. travel photography. Additionally, he also loves sports, and although I miss the sea from Valencia, wants to try new things, like skiing, which he has never done and is very excited to learn it once winter arrives. Finally, he also really likes music, since the age of 5. participated in a choirwhich allowed him to meet many friends and value the importance of teamwork.
Photograph taken by María Rueda
When asked what advice María would give to someone who wanted to study like her, she replied: “I don’t have that authority, but out of humility, if you want to pursue a career like this You need to be clear about what you are passionate about, because of the effort you are going to put into it.be prepared to put in a lot of effort and sacrifice a lot of your time.
