Dr Marta Shahbazi, an award-winning researcher at the University of Cambridge, has died in the Spanish train disaster while on her way to collect a prize for scientific excellence, the laboratory where she worked has confirmed.
The mother of two was travelling to an awards ceremony on Wednesday when the train she was on crashed into another near Urda, south of Madrid. Sixty-nine people were killed when a state-operated Renfe high-speed train struck the back of a stationary train operated by Iryo. More than 540 people were on board the two trains, and three days of national mourning were declared. It is one of the worst rail disasters in Europe's modern history and Spain's worst crash since 2013.
Shahbazi was an affiliate associate professor leading a group of researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, and had earned several awards for her work on human embryos and cell biology. She ran the Shahbazi Laboratory at the LMB, which is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
In a statement, the LMB described her death as "a profound shock and a huge loss" and paid tribute to "an inspiring, talented and passionate scientist". The institute said her research shed light on the earliest steps in the development of human embryos and on how errors occur that lead to failed pregnancies, and that her work had been recognised with many awards and prizes.
The laboratory also noted that, as a wife and mother of two young children, she wrote eloquently about balancing her family and career, serving as a much-admired role model for what she called a "mother scientist".
She had been announced as the winner of an award from the Spanish Society for Developmental Biology for her contributions to the study of early human development, and was due to collect it at a conference in El Rompido in Andalusia.
Shahbazi is listed on the University of Cambridge website as a principal investigator at its Stem Cell Institute (CSCI). The institute's director, Prof Bertie Gottgens, said its community was "shocked and deeply saddened" by her death, noting that she led her primary research group at the LMB alongside her affiliate roles at the CSCI. He said she was highly respected across both institutes for her pioneering research on early human development and valued for her collaborative spirit, adding: "Her creativity, passion, and generosity will be greatly missed."
News of her death was first confirmed in a social media post by CiMUS, based in Santiago de Compostela, where Shahbazi's aunt works. Shahbazi undertook her PhD at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre before joining the University of Cambridge as a post-doctoral fellow and then moving to the LMB in 2020.
Sources: BBC News UK.