Spain Honors Ana Fernandez-Sesma, PhD, Chair of Mount Sinai’s Department of Microbiology
Recognizes her for scientific work in the United States with the Camino Real Award From the Benjamin Franklin Research Institute of the University of Alcala in Spain
Photo Credit: Casa Real de España (Royal House of Spain).
Ana Fernandez-Sesma, PhD, Chair of the Department of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and an investigator who is distinguished for her experience and expertise in virology, vaccinology, immunology, and microbiology, is the recipient of the 2023 Camino Real Award from the Instituto Franklin de la Universidad de Alcala in Spain. The award recognizes Dr. Fernandez-Sesma for the development of her work at Icahn Mount Sinai since 1991, and for her position as a world reference for studies related to pathogens that cause infectious diseases.
Spain’s King Felipe VI presented Dr. Fernandez-Sesma with the award on Thursday, July 13, during a ceremony at the University of Alcala in Madrid, Spain. During the ceremony, King Felipe remarked that this award recognizes the exemplary professional trajectory of a Spaniard who, through her work at Icahn Mount Sinai over the years, has demonstrated great human values, mentoring, and public commitment, projecting a very positive image of Spain in the United States.
During her acceptance speech, Dr. Fernandez-Sesma, the first woman to receive the award, expressed how honored she felt in receiving this recognition, as both a Spanish and American citizen, and her great appreciation for the opportunities that both countries have given her. She highlighted how her education and upbringing in Spain prepared her very well for a career abroad and that she “landed” in the perfect place in the United States— Icahn School Mount Sinai—to pursue her scientific career.
The Instituto Franklin de la Universidad de Alcala is dedicated to the study of North America and is named after Benjamin Franklin. Founded in 1987, the Institute’s activity focuses on postgraduate research and education related to American Studies and Bilingual Education through research projects, scholarships, and grants. The Institute’s mission is to serve as a platform for communication, cooperation, and union between Spain and North America, in order to promote mutual understanding.
Dr. Fernandez-Sesma has distinguished herself as an investigator focused on the mechanisms of immune evasion used by viruses, including dengue, influenza, the human immunodeficiency virus, Zika, and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to establish infection in humans. Her research has uncovered the mechanisms used by RNA viruses, such as dengue, to circumvent the host immune responses and the role of cellular elements, such as mitochondrial DNA, to alert the immune system after RNA viral infections.
Dr. Fernandez-Sesma has been ranked among the top National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded investigators in microbiology in the United States. She was a member of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Scientific Advisory Council of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the NIH from 2018 to 2022, when she also chaired the NIH/NIAID Human Immunology Project Consortium Steering Committee. Currently, she participates in several NIH-funded multi-investigator projects and is the lead investigator of the Viral Immunity and Vaccination Human Immunology Project Consortium.
Dr. Fernandez-Sesma was born in Caceres, Spain, and graduated from the University of Salamanca, also in Spain, with a degree in Biological Sciences. Dr. Fernandez-Sesma is an alumna of Icahn Mount Sinai, having earned her PhD in Biomedical Science there.
Previous recipients of the Camino Real Award are tennis player Rafael Nadal (2022), actor Antonio Banderas (2017), basketball player Pau Gasol (2015), world-renowned Mount Sinai cardiologist Valentín Fuster, MD, PhD (2013), and tenor Plácido Domingo (2012).
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The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is internationally renowned for its outstanding research, educational, and clinical care programs. It is the sole academic partner for the eight- member hospitals* of the Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest academic health systems in the United States, providing care to a large and diverse patient population.
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* Mount Sinai Health System member hospitals: The Mount Sinai Hospital; Mount Sinai Beth Israel; Mount Sinai Brooklyn; Mount Sinai Morningside; Mount Sinai Queens; Mount Sinai South Nassau; Mount Sinai West; and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.
To find more information about the Camino Real Award just click here.
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