LUCIA VAQUERO

Lucía Vaquero (she, her) is the Scientific Project Manager for the ‘Sex & gENder integration for Scientific Excellence’ (SENSE) project. She holds a PhD in Biomedicine, with emphasis in Cognitive Neuroscience. Before joining Institut Curie in January 2026, she completed postdoctoral projects and stays in Canada, Spain, and the U.S., leading two EU-funded multi-institutional projects (EMBRACE, SMART), in addition to collaborating in neuro-oncological investigations for over a decade. 

Her involvement in these projects as well as her experience working as a scientist in both Europe and North America granted her expertise on international policy and standard practices on how to consider, include, and report sex and gender in health research. In addition, she has been involved in studies around gender-based violence in digital contexts, acting also as policy advisor for the Spanish Women’s Institute and the European Public Health Alliance. To continue her capacity building, she is about to complete the course 'Integrating Sex and Gender in Health Research and Policy' organized by Imperial College London and the MESSAGE project.

The ultimate goal of SENSE is to ensure that, by properly considering sex and gender domains in relevant research, the scientific outcome of Institut Curie: is accurately described and reproducible; helps fundamental, translational and clinical research fields to properly understand physio-pathological processes; prevents patient harm; and contributes to personalized medicine. SENSE is mapping interest and constraints, raising awareness about the topic of sex and gender in research, providing resources and training, and coming up with an institutional strategy to make inclusive science the new standard of scientific excellence at Institut Curie.