Scientist killed in Spain rail crash was ‘a light for all of us’

She was an affiliate associate professor leading a group of researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), based in the city’s biomedical campus.

Alonso, a professor of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Santiago de Compostela, said she used to rehearse conference speeches with her young niece.

“From the beginning, she was so interested in things in life,” she said.

“When she was seven or eight years old, I remember her telling me, ‘Auntie, rehearse with me, I want to change the slides for you, I want to listen to you’.

“So I started telling her about science because it was very important in my life, and she was highly perseverant and highly determined.”

The crash in Spain happened when a state-operated Renfe high-speed train smashed into the back of a stationary train operated by the Iryo company.

It is one of the worst rail disasters in Europe’s modern history, and Spain’s worst crash since 2013.

More than 540 people were on board both trains.

In a statement, the LMB paid tribute to the “inspiring, talented and passionate scientist” and described her death as a “profound shock and a huge loss”.

It said Shahbazi was a “much-admired role model for a ‘mother scientist’, a term she used to describe herself”.

Prof Bertie Gottgens, of the University of Cambridge’s Stem Cell Institute (CSCI) where Shahbazi was a principal investigator, said the science community was “shocked and deeply saddened” by her death.

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