Prof. Amaia Cipitria is an IKERBASQUE Research Professor leading the group “Bioengineering in Regeneration and Cancer” at Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute, Spain. Amaia obtained her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge, UK (2008). Since then, her scientific career has evolved from Engineering and Classical Materials Science (UK), to Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) (Australia) and Charité University Hospital Berlin (Germany). Relevant scientific contributions include the use of 3D printed scaffolds to regenerate critical-sized bone defects in sheep (Sci Transl Med 2012), or the use of advanced materials science methods to investigate the effect of curvature on in vivo tissue formation (Acta Biomater 2017). As a junior PI at the Charité, her group focused on engineering the cell microenvironment, modulating biophysical and biochemical cues (Biomaterials 2018, Biomaterials 2019, Acta Biomater 2020, Biomat Adv 2023). More recently, Amaia has embarked in the field of Biomaterials and Cancer, first with a DFG Emmy Noether grant (2017) as group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPI-CI) (Germany), later as a tenured IKERBASQUE researcher (2021) (Spain). Her interdisciplinary team investigates the role of matrix biophysical cues in cancer dormancy and bone metastasis, combining (i) in vitro models with hydrogels and microfluidics to monitor cell cycle (Soft Matter 2021, PNAS 2022, Lab on a Chip 2023, Science Advances 2024, ACS Nano 2024) with (ii) an in vivo mouse model of breast cancer bone metastasis (Science Advances 2024). As a former gender equality officer at the MPI-CI, she is committed to promoting women in science. She also serves as associate editor of the journal „Biomaterials Advances“. Amaia has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant (DORMATRIX) (2024) to engineer cancer dormancy as a collective emergent phenomenon. Recently, she has also been awarded the Ikerbasque Prize – Recognition of Women Researchers (2024). Originally from San Sebastián located on the Atlantic coast, she loves traveling with her family in a van to the mountains and seaside.
