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World's Top 2% Scientists (Stanford University)

Mikel Izquierdo is a Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Health Sciences at the Public University of Navarra. He is also a Professor in the Master of High Performance Sport of the Spanish Olympic Committee. He was Head of the Research, Studies and Sports Medicine Unit of the Government of Navarra (2005-2010), a period during which he participated in the preparation of Olympic athletes in judo, handball and Basque pelota. He also collaborated with the football teams Liverpool FC and FC Barcelona, with whom he won two UEFA Champions League titles, as well as the Copa and the Spanish League.

He has led numerous research projects focused on biomechanics and the neuromuscular system, with particular interest in the effects of strength and muscular power training on athletic performance, aging, frailty, and populations affected by conditions such as diabetes and obesity.

Currently, he leads the Physical Exercise, Health and Quality of Life (E-FIT) research group at the Navarra Biomedical Research Center (NAVARRABIOMED) and is the principal investigator in the CIBER of Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES) of the Carlos III Health Institute. He has participated in projects funded by the European Commission, such as Mid-Frail (7PM) and DIABFRAIL-LATAM (H2020), and he coordinates as scientific director the European project VIVIFRAIL (www.vivifrail.com).

Since 2018, he has been an external advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) Healthy Aging Consortium, collaborating in the implementation of physical exercise programs for the prevention of frailty and falls globally.

He directed more than 40 doctoral theses in the field of physical activity and published more than 530 indexed articles (h-index of 105), accumulating over 55,000 citations. In the last decade, he has managed more than €2.5 million in funding for research projects. His most recent publications can be consulted at the following link: http://goo.gl/zaiGw8.
 

Maite Mendioroz Iriarte holds a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Navarra (1996) she completed her specialist training in Neurology (MIR) from Donostia University Hospital. She completed her training at Vall d’Hebron- Institut de Recerca Hospital (2006-2010), where she defended her doctoral thesis cum laude at UAB (2010). Between 2010 and 2012, she specialized in neuroepigenetics as a Visiting Scientist at Columbia University (New York). Since 2010, she has been part of the medical team of the Neurology Service at Navarra University Hospital (HUN), where she was Research Coordinator between 2016 and 2022. Since 2013, she has led the NeuroEpigenetics Unit of Navarrabiomed, combining her clinical work with research on neurodegenerative diseases, focusing on biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

She has participated in 26 research projects, serving as principal investigator in 11 (6 national and 5 regional). Her work has resulted in 107 scientific publications. She is a member of the ISCIII RICORS network of cerebrovascular diseases and to the national DEGESCO consortium.
 
She has tutored 12 neurology residents (2014-2019), led 5 doctoral theses, 5 master’s final projects, and 5 undergraduate projects. In addition, she was an associate clinical professor at the UNAV (2013-2022). Since 2022, she has served on the Management Committee of the EDONA Doctoral School of the UPNA.

Since 2022, she has been a member of the board of the Dementia Study Group of the Spanish Society of Neurology. She has evaluated projects for the State Agency for Research and participated in the CTEs of the ISCIII as a panel adjunct. Among her recognitions are the National Award Alberto Rábano (2011), her appointment as an Honorary Member of the European Council of Doctors (2018), the TELVA Science Award (2018), and her inclusion in the Top 100 Women Leaders in Spain ranking (2021).

In addition, she served as Director of Navarrabiomed–Miguel Servet Foundation between 2022 and 2024, consolidating her position as a leading researcher and specific manager in research and management in neuroscience and epigenetics.
 

World's Top 2% Scientists (Stanford University)

The researcher holds a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences (2006) and a PhD in the same discipline (2012) from the University of Extremadura. He has completed postdoctoral stays abroad, mainly in Chile. Between 2019 and 2024, he was a Miguel Servet Type 1 researcher and a consolidated researcher at Navarrabiomed (March-October 2025). He obtained the i3 Program certification in November 2023. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Public University of Navarra.

In leadership and scientific independence, he has supervised eight doctoral theses rated with Very Good Cum Laude. He has also obtained competitive contracts for training pre- and postdoctoral students, including Caixa's INPhINIT program and a PFIS predoctoral contract from the Carlos III Health Institute.

He has published 320 articles in peer-reviewed indexed journals, of which 60% are open access and have received 9,489 citations, placing him in the top 2% most cited according to the Stanford ranking. In 50% of his works, he has held prominent positions as corresponding author, first author, or last author. His average Field-Weighted Citation Impact is 2.08 (2.45 as first author). His h-index is 49 on Scopus and 46 on the WOS.

He has served as an external reviewer for organizations such as CONICYT of Chile and the Health Research Council of New Zealand. He is an expert reviewer for the FWO Review College of Belgium and the Swiss National Science Foundation. He has served as Principal investigator of two projects funded by the Carlos III Health Institute.
 

Hugo Arasanz: specialist in Medical Oncology, specialized in thoracic oncology and central nervous system tumors, and Doctor of Health Sciences from the Public University of Navarra (2020). He actively participates in clinical trials, some of them as principal investigator, and was coordinator of the FER-FEN-2019-01 trial. In recent years he has participated in different basic/translational research projects with competitive funding, two of them as principal investigator, focused on cancer immunotherapy, biomarker studies, as well as treatment resistance and molecular pathways. He has more than 50 publications in indexed journals, with an h-index of 21.