Ignacio Ochoa Garrido: “Don't try to cure diseases on the first day; science is an endurance race.”

In this interview, the IIS Aragón researcher talks about his work leading the 'Tissue Microenvironment Lab (TME Lab)' group (GIIS018) and what his lines of research are.

Ignacio Ochoa Garrido He holds a degree in biology and biochemistry from the University of Navarra and a PhD in the Department of Histology and Pathological Anatomy from the same university. He later joined the Structures and Materials Modeling Group (GEMM) at the University of Zaragoza to develop his postdoctoral research. Dr. Ochoa has been 26 years dedicated to research and in the Aragon Health Research Institute since its creation, and after a long career, he explains what he likes about the world of research:

'Since I was little, I was very attracted to the subject of helping people, looking for correlations to things to understand how they worked.'

Currently, He leads the 'Tissue Microenvironment Lab (TME Lab)' group at the IIS Aragón and the I3A:

'Our group is the evolution of the one created by Dr. Manuel Doblaré many years ago (GEMM group). His group was one of the founders of the Institute and has been linked to the technological side since its inception.'

In addition to being the principal investigator of TME Lab, Ignacio Ochoa also acts as coordinator from one of the 6 programs of the IIS Aragón, specifically from the program of 'Technologies and innovation applied to health'. Also belongs to the group 069 of the Biomedical Research Network Center (CIBER) for Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER BBN). In March 2023, Ignacio Ochoa was appointed Scientific Director of the Joint Scientific and Technical Services of IACS-UNIZAR and Director of the Biomedical Division of the General Research Support Service (SAI) of the University of Zaragoza.

To date, Ignacio Ochoa has published more than 50 articles indexed in prestigious international journals, he has written 4 book chapters, and has been invited as speaker in several national and international conferences and seminars. At the transfer level, Dr. Ochoa holds two knowledge transfer agreements and more than 10 patents (5 of them licensed), being, in addition, founder of 2 spin-off companies (EBERS and BEONCHIP). EBERS is dedicated to the development and commercialization of bioreactors and extracorporeal organ preservation systems, and BEONCHIP is dedicated to the development and commercialization of microfluidic devices for Organ on Chip applications.  

What lines of research are being worked on in your group?

Our research group focuses on understand how the cells in our body relate to their environment. For this we developed new preclinical models what do you intend replace or reduce the use of experimental animals. We use tools such as computational simulation, artificial intelligence, microfluidic devices (organ-on-chip models), three-dimensional cultures, and extracorporeal organ preservation. We use all of these tools to research in 5 internal programs.

In the of ONCOIMMUNOLOGY We aim to simulate different tumor microenvironments to understand the mechanisms of tumor treatment escape and detect new therapeutic targets. In the program EPITHELIA We simulate tissues such as skin or the large intestine to understand how they relate to the microbiota. The program VASCULAR focuses on simulating the blood-brain barrier in vitro to predict its permeability to treatments for neurodegenerative diseases or tumors of the central nervous system. In the program MUSCLE We work on simulating both skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle. In the program REPRODUCTION We work on topics related to fertility preservation in pediatric oncology patients and other tools that improve reproductive capacity.

What is the main challenge your research group is currently facing?

As you can see from the previous answer, we work on multiple applications of the different technological tools we have. Our biggest challenge is ensuring that everything we do in the laboratory can reach patients and society in one way or another.

Any ongoing projects that you would like to highlight?

They are all very interesting! Perhaps we should highlight the latest projects that have been awarded to us by the ISC III to launch the Preclinical Support Unit of Aragon (UAPA) and to develop tools that allow us to strengthen collaboration between the institute's groups. In addition to these, we have several European and national projects, in addition to several projects with companies.

What profiles make up your research team?

Our team is tremendously multidisciplinaryWe have engineers, mathematicians, data scientists, biomedical engineers, veterinarians, biologists, and biochemists…

This is our great strength. We have been able to put to working with people of different profiles on the same problem, enriching the different visions and addressing the problem from multiple points of view.

Why should companies bet on research, and specifically, on your group?

La research, development and innovation It's the only thing that will allow you Evolve as a company and be competitive in an increasingly global market (despite tariffs…). Our group has already created several companies and is very committed to the transfer to society. We understand the philosophy of companies and strive to help them. In our case, we have the advantage of handling a variety of cutting-edge technologies, which makes us attractive to companies when it comes to addressing their new challenges.

Advice for someone starting out in healthcare research?

Focus on the problem that you want to solve and look for colleagues from other fields that allow you to approach the problem in a more holisticWe always comment that our group is based on philosophical reflections of such illustrious people as Ortega y Gasset. His famous phrase ““I am me and my circumstances” helped us understand the importance of the environment…

Don't try to cure diseases on day one. Look for small breakthroughs that will allow you to achieve small successes that keep you motivated. Science is an endurance race..

The patient is the most important thing. Focus on the patient's problems, not on the impact of your publications or the importance of your latest projects.