Virginia Arechavala-Gomeza, PhD, is an Ikerbasque Research Professor and head of the Nucleic Acid Therapies for Rare Diseases (NAT-RD) group at Biobizkaia HRI.
Trained as a pharmacist (University of the Basque Country), she completed an MSc in Immunopharmacology (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow) and a PhD at King’s College London on the molecular basis of ALS. During her postdoctoral work at Imperial College London and University College London, she contributed to the first clinical trials of eteplirsen and the preclinical development of several FDA-approved nucleic acid therapeutics for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
Since 2013, supported by a Miguel Servet Fellowship and a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant, she has led the NAT-RD group, focusing on developing and improving RNA-based therapies for neuromuscular diseases. She was Chair of the highly successful COST Action DARTER (“Delivery of Antisense RNA ThERapeutics”), a network of over 460 researchers in 31 countries that advanced oligonucleotide delivery research. She now leads a work package within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network EFFecT, which applies antisense oligonucleotide therapies to muscle.
Prof. Arechavala-Gomeza has authored numerous publications (>5000 citations), including invited papers, book chapters, and an edited volume. Her group has contributed to the development and evaluation of several approved orphan drugs, and has optimised cell-plate in vitro screening methods, leading to collaborations with biotechnology companies. She is also a founding member of the spin-off Miramoon Pharma, which develops small molecules for degenerative diseases.
She regularly serves on Spanish and international funding review panels, collaborates with the European Medicines Agency, and previously served on the Basque Drug Research Ethics Committee (2020–2022). Her research is funded by European, national, regional, and patient association grants.
Committed to mentorship, outreach, and gender equality, she has received a mentorship award and helped draft the first Gender Equality Plan at IIS Biobizkaia. She is a founding member of CERU/SRUK and of the Spanish Myology Society, supervises several predoctoral and master’s students, and is active in science communication in both English and Spanish.
