Surprise farewell to Isabel Díaz Rodríguez after a brilliant scientific career

Our colleague, professor and researcher Isabel Díaz Rodríguez, is retiring at the end of July. From the Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics (CBGP), a joint center of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and the National Institute of Statistics and CSIC (INIA-CSIC), her colleagues wanted to express their sincere gratitude for her commitment, excellence, and dedication over all these years with a surprise party.

Isabel Díaz Rodríguez and the Directory board of the CBGP / CBGP

Isabel has developed a distinguished scientific career in the field of plant-pest interactions, focusing her research on the molecular, biochemical, and functional aspects of this process. Her career is supported by 97 indexed scientific articles (SCI), 20 book chapters, and two books as an editor, accumulating an h-index of 38 and more than 4,200 citations (according to Web of Science data).

Throughout her career, she has participated in 31 research projects, actively collaborating with numerous groups both nationally and internationally. Of note is her role as Guarantor of the Severo Ochoa Excellence Project (SEV-2016-0672) awarded to the CBGP for the period 2017–2021, which consolidated the center's position as an international benchmark in plant biotechnology.

In addition to her research, Isabel has been actively involved in teaching and management. She has served on scientific and evaluation committees, has been the Manager of the Agriculture Department of the State Research Agency (AEI) of the Ministry of Science, and has collaborated as a reviewer of articles and projects for numerous public and private institutions.

Her legacy at the CBGP goes beyond the numbers: she leaves a profound mark as a scientist, teacher, and colleague.

Open letter

“The Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics (UPM/INIA-CSIC), colleagues in the Department of Biotechnology-Plant Biology at the School of Agricultural, Food and Biosystems Engineering (ETSIAAB), and close collaborators thank Dr. María Isabel Díaz Rodríguez for her scientific work. Dr. Diaz, Professor of Biochemistry at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, has led the "Plant-Phytophage Molecular Interactions" research group since the CBGP was founded in 2006. During these years, Dr. Díaz has focused her research on the study of protease inhibitors in plants and their role in defense against biotic stresses, as well as on the molecular response of plants to pest attacks. In addition to her teaching and research, Dr. Diaz has performed various management tasks, highlighting her role as a Manager of the Agricultural Department of the Spanish Research Agency and Director of the doctoral program "Biotechnology and Genetic Resources of Plants and Associated Microorganisms.
Thank you, Isabel.”

Event photos:

• https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCkHoj