Cristina Garmendia Mendizábal

Cristina Garmendia Mendizábal holds a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Seville, a Doctorate in Biological Sciences, and specialising in Genetics, she pursued a PhD in Molecular Biology in the laboratory of Dr. Margarita Salas, at the National Center for Molecular Biology “Severo Ochoa”. She completed her academic training with an MBA from the IESE Business School of the Universidad de Navarra. She was a Minister of Science and Innovation for the Government of Spain during the entire IX Legislature (2008-2011). After leaving the Government, she resumed her responsibilities in the companies she founded, Ysios and Genetrix, also chairing the Spanish-German biotechnology Expedeon AG and the Spanish-North American Satlantis Microsats. She is currently president of the COTEC Foundation and participates in several advisory councils, councils of Universities and Business Schools, as well as an independent advisor in business administration councils. She is an advisor to the European Commission as a member of the High Level Group (HLG), which has made recommendations for the design of the European Union, IX Framework Program (2021-2026.) Cristina Garmendia Mendizábal’s work and entrepreneurial vision has been recognised on several occasions with awards for research and business innovation.