2025/12/15

CIC bioGUNE Alumni Héctor Rodríguez López Awarded the Natac National Prize for Research in Natural Products

CIC bioGUNE is proud to announce that Dr. Héctor Rodríguez, CIC bioGUNE Alumni and currently a senior scientist at the CSIC’s Institute of Dairy Products of Asturias (IPLA-CSIC), has been awarded the Natac National Prize for Research in Natural Products in the Consolidated Researcher category.

Héctor Rodríguez López has been recognized for his research titled “The microbiota metabolite, phloroglucinol, confers long-term protection against inflammation”, published in the prestigious journal Gut Microbes. The award, endowed with €10,000, highlights the methodological rigor, biomedical relevance, and potential for the development of new therapeutic approaches of this work, which investigates the long-term protective effects of the microbiota metabolite phloroglucinol against inflammation.

Dr. Rodríguez López led the research alongside Dr. Juan Anguita, Ikerbasque Research Professor and head of the Inflammation and Macrophage Plasticity Lab at CIC bioGUNE, where most of the experimental work was conducted. The study also involved collaboration with several Spanish and international research centers, including Tecnalia and Neiker, other CSIC centers (ICTAN-CSIC, CIAL-CSIC, CEBAS-CSIC, IFQ-CSIC), the University of the Basque Country (EHU-UPV), Complutense University of Madrid, and the University of Würzburg, Germany. The main co-authors of the work are Janire Castedo, Sarai Araujo, Diego Barriales, and Samuel Tanner Pasco.

Natac Natural Ingredients (NAT), a biotechnology company specialized in the sustainable production of botanical extracts and omega-3 oils, announced the results of the first edition of its awards, recognizing the work of researchers like Dr. Rodríguez López for their contributions to natural product research with an impact on health and biotechnology.

CIC bioGUNE, member of BRTA, congratulates Dr. Héctor Rodríguez López on this well-deserved recognition and celebrates the impact of scientific collaboration and the talent of its Alumni in cutting-edge research.

About CIC bioGUNE

The Centre for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA), located in the Bizkaia Technology Park, is a biomedical research organisation conducting cutting-edge research at the interface between structural, molecular and cell biology, with a particular focus on generating knowledge on the molecular bases of disease, for use in the development of new diagnostic methods and advanced therapies.

About Ikerbasque

Ikerbasque —Basque Foundation for Science— is the result of an initiative of the Department of Education of the Basque Government that aims to reinforce the commitment to scientific research by attracting, recovering and consolidating excellent researchers from all over the world. Currently, it is a consolidated organization that has 290 researchers/s, who develop their work in all fields of knowledge.

About BRTA

BRTA is an alliance of 4 collaborative research centres (CIC bioGUNE, CIC nanoGUNE, CIC biomaGUNE y CIC energiGUNE) and 13 technology centres (Azterlan, Azti, Ceit, Cidetec, Gaiker, Ideko, Ikerlan, Leartiker, Lortek, Neiker, Tecnalia, Tekniker y Vicomtech) with the main objective of developing advanced technological solutions for the Basque corporate fabric.

With the support of the Basque Government, the SPRI Group and the Provincial Councils of the three territories, the alliance seeks to promote collaboration between the research centres, strengthen the conditions to generate and transfer knowledge to companies, contributing to their competitiveness and outspreading the Basque scientific-technological capacity abroad.

BRTA has a workforce of 3,500 professionals, executes 22 % of the Basque Country's R&D investment, registers an annual turnover of more than 300 million euros and generates 100 European and international patents per year.

Spanish version