Carlos Martínez Alonso

He held the post until 15 April 2008, when he was appointed Secretary of State for Research, at the Ministry of Science and Innovation.

He held various research positions at institutions such as the Department of Biochemistry, College of Agricultural Engineering, the Immunology Department of the Clínica Puerta de Hierro, the Basel Institute of Immunology, the Department of Immunology at the University of Umeå (Sweden), the National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris, and the Department of Immunology and Oncology of the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (a joint CSIC - Madrid Autonomous University centre), where he was director from 1996 until his appointment as President of CSIC. 

He has also been a visiting professor at the Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto; the Max Planck Institute of Immunology in Freiburg, and the California Technology Institute.  Over the last 30 years, Carlos Martínez Alonso has studied leukocytes in various fields, from cellular immunology to autoimmune diseases. He has analysed lymphocyte activation, the role of chemotactic responses in physiological and pathological situations, and molecular mechanisms involved in controlling cell death, and also with the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in HIV infection.

He has also participated actively in the creation of several technology companies and has published more than 430 papers in scientific journals. He was given the Real Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales award in 1990 and the Fundación Ciencias de la Salud award in 2000. He won the DuPont Award for Science in 2001, the King Jaime I Prize for Scientific Research in 2003, the Lilly Award for Preclinical Research in 2004, the Castile and Leon Scientific Research Award in 2004 and the Galen International Scientific Research Award that same year. He is a member of several scientific academies, including the Academia Europea.

He has sat on several NATO, EU, and HFSP scientific committees and has chaired the European Molecular Biology Conference. He was vice president of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory Council, a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), vice president and member of Board EUROHORCS ESF.