Fernando García-Arenal received the UPM Research Prize in Santo Tomás de Aquino 2012 ceremony

UPM research award promotes the public recognition of scientists who have contributed significantly to the improvement of UPM research.

Fernando García-Arenal received a cash prize of 10.000 euros and a commemorative plaque.

Fernando García-Arenal got his degree as Ingeniero Agrónomo and as Dr. Ingeniero Agrónomo at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM), where he is currently Professor of Plant Pathology.

For over thirty years research of Fernando García-Arenal at UPM has focused on the biology of plant-pathogenic viruses. He is best known by his contributions to understand virus evolution, and his research group is considered an international reference in this area. Over the years, significant contributions have been made regarding the characterisation of the genetic variability of plant viruses, the analysis of the genetic structure of their populations and of the factors that shape it, and the mechanisms that generate genetic variability in RNA viruses. Since at CBGP, interests have encompassed the evolution of plant-virus interactions. Within this field, he has contributed pioneering work on the evolution of pathogenicity and virulence, as well as on virus ecology in wild systems, which are relevant to understand virus disease emergence.

Fernando García-Arenal has served as Vice-Director for Research at E.T.S. Ingenieros Agrónomos (College of Agriculture) at UPM, as Head of the Department of Biotechnology at UPM, and is currently Director of Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas UPM-INIA (CBGP).