Pilar Goya Laza received her PhD in Chemistry from the Universidad Complutense Madrid and had a postdoctoral stay with Prof. W. Pfleiderer in Konstanz, Germany, financed by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. She is research professor of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and from 2005 to 2011 she was the Director of the Instituto de Química Médica. From 1991 to 1996 she was Head of International Affairs of CSIC. Former representative in HCM and TMR programmes of the EU, she has participated in evaluation panels of the Framework Programmes of the EU, having chaired the Chemistry Committee of the Marie Curie grants. Her research deals with different aspects of medicinal chemistry and drug design, and is currently focused on cannabinoids and PPAR ligands targeting the CNS and obesity. She is author of over 150 scientific publications and holds a dozen international patents in these disciplines. She has directed 10 PhD theses. She was Vice President of the Royal Society of Chemistry of Spain, RSEQ. She has recently been elected member of the Executive Board of EuCheMS (European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences) and is currently VicePresident of the Spanish Medicinal Chemistry Society, SEQT.

Nadine Jagerovic was born in Beaune (France) and studied at the University of Burgundy (France), where she obtained her B.Sc. in 1986 and her PhD in physical chemistry in 1990, under the supervision of Prof Roger Guilard. Then, she received a two years postdoctoral training with a U.S. National Science Foundation grant at the University of California Davis (U.S.) where she worked in the group lead by Prof Kevin M. Smith on photosensitizers for cancer photodynamic therapy. In 1993, she was awarded with a Human Capital and Mobility European Contract (MarieCurie) and subsequently she joined Prof José Elguero´s group at the Medicinal Chemistry Institute (CSIC) in Madrid (Spain) where she was appointed to a permanent position in 1999 and research scientist in 2010. Her current research is concerned with the endogenous cannabinoid and opioid systems. She is co-author of more than 90 peer reviewed publications in international journals and is co-inventor of 11 patents.

Ruth Pérez studied at the Autonoma University of Madrid where she received her European PhD degree in chemical sciences under the supervision of Prof. de Mendoza in 2005. At the end of 2005, she joined Prof. Sanders´ group at the University of Cambridge as a postdoctoral researcher working on molecular recognition using a dynamic combinatorial approach. In March 2008 she started in the Medicinal Chemistry department of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) under the supervision of Dr. Pevarello working on PI3-K inhibitors. In May 2008 she joined the Medicinal Chemistry Institute (CSIC) where she was appointed to a permanent position in 2009. Currently, her research interests include the quantitative analysis of endocannabinoids by LC-MS, the design and synthesis of dual PPAR ligands to treat metabolic syndrome (obesity and diabetes) and the synthesis of new analgesic drugs.

Laura Hernandez-Folgado obtained her degree in Chemistry from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in 1999. Then she joined the group of Dr. Nadine Jagerovic and Prof. Pilar Goya in the Medicinal Chemistry Institute (CSIC) for doing her PhD, working on the design and synthesis of 1,2,4-triazoles as new cannabinoid ligands (2004). Afterwards she moved to the group of Prof. Dr. Carsten Schmuck in the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Wuerzburg (Wuerzburg, Germany) for a postdoctoral stay from 2005 to 2007. There, she was searching for new applications of derivatives of guanidiniocarbonylpyrrole in the fields of DNA/RNA-binders as antiproliferative agents, of artificial peptidic receptors, and of models of secondary structures of proteins (a-helix). Since summer 2007 she works as a postdoctoral assistant researcher in the Medicinal Chemistry Institute being involved in the development of new heterocyles as CB2 selective agonists for treatment of neuroinflammation, and the quantitative analysis of endocannabinoids by LC/MS. During summer 2009 she did a short stay in the group of Prof. Patricia H. Reggio in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Greensboro, EEUU) for docking cannabinoid ligands with CB1 and CB2 receptor models.

Nieves Fresno graduated in Chemistry from the Complutense University of Madrid in 2009. She combined her degree in chemistry with a two-year stay in the laboratory of Professor J. Plumet as an undergraduate student working on organic synthesis and a year in the company Alcala Farma as a analytical technician. In October 2009 she started her master thesis at the Medical Chemistry Institute (CSIC) in the group of Prof. Pilar Goya under the co-supervision of Dr. Ruth Pérez working on synthesis of PPAR ligands to treat obesity and diabetes.

In September 2011 she received her Master’s degree in organic chemistry from the UCM.

Paula Morales obtained her degree in Chemistry from the University of Castilla-La Mancha in June 2009. During her degree she did a short stay of six months at the University of Pittsburgh (USA). In September 2009 she began her Master in Organic Chemistry at the Complutense University of Madrid. In November she started her PhD at the Medicinal Chemistry Institute (CSIC) in the group of Prof. Pilar Goya under the supervision of Dr. Nadine Jagerovic working on synthesis, optimization and biological evaluation of cannabinoid ligands with antitumor and analgesic activity.

In September 2011 she received her Master’s degree in organic chemistry from the UCM.

• Ana Montero (2000-2001)

Exchange students