With a degree and doctorate in Biology from the Autonomous University of Madrid, she began her studies on the activity of the Telomerase enzyme and its involvement in cancer during her post-doctoral stay at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York (1993-1996). She currently directs the Molecular Oncology Programme at the National Centre for Oncological Research (CNIO) in Madrid. The study and identification of the genes involved in these telomeric maintenance mechanisms is fundamental to understanding tumour progression.