Brief CV: Virginia Arechavala-Gomeza is an Ikerbasque Research Professor and leads the Nucleic Acids Therapies for Rare Diseases (NAT-RD) group at Biobizkaia HRI. With a background in pharmacy, she holds an MSc in Immunopharmacology and a PhD in the molecular basis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. During her postdoctoral research at Imperial College London and University College London, she was involved in the first two clinical trials of eteplirsen, an orphan drug now approved by the FDA for treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy. 
 
Since 2013, she has focused on developing and evaluating therapies for neuromuscular disorders. She chairs the COST Action “Delivery of Antisense RNA ThERapeutics (DARTER),” which fosters international collaboration to enhance the delivery of RNA-based therapies. 
 
Prof. Arechavala-Gomeza is dedicated to science communication and mentorship, actively participating in outreach activities in English and Spanish. Her efforts have earned her the Outstanding Mentor Award. With over 4,500 citations, her scholarly contributions include invited articles, book chapters, and an edited book. She also serves on various grant review panels, collaborates with the European Medicines Agency, and was a member of the Basque Ethics Committee for Drug Research from 2020 to 2022. She advocates for the publication of “negative” results and has edited special issues to promote this practice.