In an act held last April during the XXII National Congress of the Spanish Society of Diabetes (SED) Antonio Zorzano, coordinator of the Molecular Medicine Programme at IRB Barcelona was awarded the IV “Alberto Sols Senior Investigator Award for Basic Research”. Presented by Bernat Soria, ex-president of the SED and ex-minister of Health, this award is in recognition of Zorzano’s career dedicated to the study of the causes of diabetes.

In 1991, Zorzano was one of the youngest Senior Professors in Spain in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology department at the University of Barcelona. Since 2002, he has headed the Molecular Pathology and Therapy in Heterogenic and Polygenic Diseases lab at IRB Barcelona. His group is one of the most active research units in Europe devoted to the study the molecular bases of insulin resistance and diabetes type 2.

It was 1978 when Zorzano started his PhD studies on the regulation of glucose metabolism during pregnancy, research that was performed in Emilio Herrera’s lab in the Hospital Ramón y Cajal in Madrid. “At that time, almost 30 years ago, not many scientists were interested in glucose metabolism and insulin resistance processes”, comments Zorzano. Now, with the unprecedented increase in chronic diseases associated to more sedentary lifestyles in western societies, predisposing the population to obesity and insulin resistance, the scenario is dramatically different: diabetes, predominantly type 2, has become a global health epidemic of the 21st century in modern societies with over 300 million people affected worldwide and further 344 million people at risk of developing the disease.

A lifetime dedicated to diabetes

With more than 200 original papers in top-class scientific journals, including Nature, Cell Metabolism and Current Opinion in Biology, after more than 25 years of research, and over 1,500 citations in the field of diabetes over the last 10 years, Zorzano’s contributions to the field are not just numerous, but also significant: among his notable achievements is the discovery of a gen involved in the development of insulin resistance. Furthermore, Zorzano was among the first scientists to describe the mechanistic regulatory bases of glucose uptake by insulin, a fundamental discovery that will be lead to the development of new treatments for diabetes type 2.

During his 30 years of scientific activity, Zorzano has directed more than 27 PhD theses, an activity that he considers “an extremely important undertaking during his career”. “Training future generations of talented researchers, who will later move into biomedical research, either through the academic system or by making a career in industrial, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors, is the greatest contribution that I have made as a scientist”. In fact, “modern societies are in great need of new treatments for diabetes type 2”. As a result of his dedication to research into new drugs for insulin resistance, the starting point for diabetes type 2, he has participated in the creation of Genmedica Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on the development of new strategies for slowing the progression of type 2 diabetes. Zorzano has transferred several patent licences of compounds with anti-diabetic properties to the biotech sector through Genmedica Therapeutics.

First recognised by the SED in 1992, when he was awarded the Young Investigator “Lilly Award” for Outstanding Research in Diabetes, Zorzano has received the “2011 Alberto Sols Senior Investigator Award for Basic Research” as “an injection of energy” to continue furthering our understanding of the molecular bases of diabetes.