Maria A. Blasco obtained her PhD in 1993 for her research on a viral DNA polymerase at the Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa" (CSIC-UAM, Madrid, Spain) under the supervision of Prof Margarita Salas. Following a postdoctoral stay with Carol C. Greider at her Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (New York, USA) where she isolated the first mammalian telomerase gene and generated the first knockout mouse for telomerase, Blasco returned to Spain in 1997 her own laboratory at the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología-CSIC (Madrid, Spain). She joined the CNIO in 2003 as Head of the Telomere and Telomerase Group and Director of the Molecular Oncology Programme (2003-2012). She served as CNIO Vice Director (2005-2011), and CNIO Director (2011-2025).
Blasco’s Group has made an array of seminal contributions to the understanding the role of telomere biology in ageing, tumourigenesis, DNA repair and epigenetics, and the biology of both adult and induced pluripotent stem cells (ESC and iPSC), as well as on the translation of that knowledge into therapeutic strategies and applications. Blasco has generated two spin-off companies: Life Length SL and Telomere Therapeutics. Blasco was a runner-up for the EU Women´s Innovator Award in 2014.
Maria A. Blasco has authored to date more than 280 publications, and her h-index >100.
Maria A. Blasco was elected EMBO Member in 2000 and sat at the EMBO Council during 2008-2011. She was the recipient the EMBO Gold Medal in 2004. She was elected a Global Young Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2026. She has also been distinguished with the European Association of Cancer Research “Young Investigator Award” (2002), the Joseph Steiner Award (2003), the Rey Jaime I Prize for Basic Research (2007), the Körber European Science Award (2008), the Spanish National Research Award in Biology Santiago Ramón y Cajal (2010), the Lilly Foundation Preclinical Research Award (2010), the Miguel Catalan Career Achievement Award awarded by the Regional Government of Madrid (2016). Maria A. Blasco became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Pharmacy in 2013. In 2021 she was named Chair of SOMMa (‘Severo Ochoa’ Centres and ‘María de Maeztu’ Units of Excellence Alliance) and also became a member of the Board of Trustees of Museo del Prado (Madrid, Spain). She has been conferred Doctorate Honoris Causa titles from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain) in 2014 and from Universidad de Murcia (Spain) in 2018.