Our professionals
Dr. Fernando Pastor Rodríguez
Principal investigator of the Aptamer group.
Preferential dedication to the development of RNA structured elements (aptamers) for cancer immunotherapy.
Professional career
- Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Oviedo in 2001. Doctor in Sciences from the university of Navarra in 2006 in the development of cancer vaccines for lymphoma.
- Clinical Immunology specialist (BIR) at Clínica Universidad de Navarra (residency 2002-2006).
- He has carried out a research stay at the Dotson Interdisciplinary Immunotherapy Institute (University of Miami, USA) focused on the development of immunotherapy approaches to enhance tumor immunity using aptamers.
- Since 2011 he is a researcher at CIMA Universidad de Navarra. I3 researcher Ramón y Cajal 2014-2019.
- Teaching since 2014 at the University of Navarra.
- Principal Investigator of the Aptamer group with in the Therapeutic Innovation Program.
RESEARCH AREAS
He is co-inventor of 3 patents related with aptamer technology.
He has participated in more than 20 research projects, being principal investigator in 12 of them. Of note are the competitive projects: European Union, Ministry of Ministry of Science and Innovation, Carlos III Health Institute, Government of Navarra and private organizations.
He has authored more 50 publications, 40 indexed in JCR and 18 publications in Q1 with main author (first or corresponding author). Some of his research has been published in high profile journals (Nature, JCI, Biomaterials, Molecular Therapy, Molecular Cancer, Cancer Cell, etc.).
AREAS OF INTEREST
- Development of aptamers with immunomodulatory effects for cancer immunotherapy.
- Development of aptamer for cell-targeted therapeutic delivery.
- Development of intracellular aptamers for regulation of gene expression.
- Development of therapeutic approaches to enhance tumor antigenicity by inhibition of the Nonsense mediated-mRNA decay (NMD) pathway.
- Characterization NMD modulation as a mechanism of tumor immune evasion.
Activity
In teaching
He teaches Immunology at the School of Medicine and Macromolecule Structure at Biochemistry and Biology Bachelors.
He has supervised 5 doctoral thesis and 4 Master’s Thesis
More information
Latest scientific publications
- Dual ENPP1/ATM depletion blunts DNA damage repair boosting radioimmune efficacy to abrogate triple-negative breast cancer Aug 13, 2025 | Magazine: Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy
- Combination of locoregional radiotherapy with a TIM-3 aptamer improves survival in diffuse midline glioma models. Scientific Publication Aug 15, 2024 | Magazine: JCI Insight