Lorena Diéguez, Paulina Piairo and Sara Abalde-Cela, running for the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2022

Lorena Diéguez, Paulina Piairo and Sara Abalde-Cela running for the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2022 through their work developed at INL and at RUBYnanomed, a spin-off from INL - International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory.

The EU Prize for Women Innovators celebrates the women entrepreneurs behind game-changing innovations. In doing so, the EU seeks to raise awareness of the need for more women innovators, and create role models for women and girls everywhere.

The prize is awarded to the most talented women entrepreneurs from across the EU and countries associated with Horizon Europe, who has founded a successful company and brought innovation to the market. The prize is managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, and the winners are chosen by an independent expert jury.

RUBYnanomed was founded by Lorena Diéguez, Sara Abalde-Cela and Paulina Piairo from the INL - International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory to bring to hospitals the first non-invasive device for continuous monitoring and personalized diagnosis during the evolution of breast cancer, through the isolation and analysis of circulating tumour cells in patients blood samples. RUBYnanomed is already conducting preclinical trials in five different types of cancer in 8 European hospitals. The results have shown that the technology is capable of detecting the progression of metastasis up to a year before current technologies.

The winners of the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2022 will be announced at the European Innovation Council Summit taking place on 7 and 8 December 2022. At the same event, the Commission will award the European Capital of Innovation Awards, and the European Innovation Procurement Awards.

Congratulations, Lorena, Sara and Paulina!