The WIT funding program celebrates a new academic milestone: our fellow Lorea Jordana Urriza has successfully defended her PhD thesis, titled 'Molecular mechanisms governing CAR T cell response in Multiple Myeloma (MM) patients at single cell level', earning outstanding praise from the evaluation panel and officially achieving her doctoral degree. Huge congratulations, Lorea!

Her research, supervised by Dr. Juan Roberto Rodríguez Madoz at CIMA-Universidad de Navarra and enriched by a research stay in Basel (Switzerland) within the Tissue Engineering group, tackles a critical challenge in modern oncology: understanding why long-term disease control remains difficult in Multiple Myeloma (MM) patients treated with CAR T cell therapies. Lorea's cutting-edge research offers crucial insights for next-generation cancer treatments by understanding the success and failure of these advanced immunotherapies.

Her defense was highly praised by the evaluation panel, who highlighted her impressive data setting and her remarkable ability to make complex science beautifully written, clear, and engaging, while celebrating the immense joy of seeing young generations with a sincere vocation for scientific research.

It was a truly special day, as Lorea was warmly surrounded by her family, her close group of friends, and many colleagues from the laboratory. This beautiful support perfectly echoes the reflection she shared about her doctoral journey: 'Very grateful to everyone who helped me along the way. The greatest lessons and the best memories always come from the people we share the journey with'. 

WIT extends the warmest congratulations to Dr. Jordana. Her talent and dedication are an asset to the scientific community, and we are convinced her future will be full of success. WIT is very proud to have supported Lorea's journey!