Cambridge laboratory remembers developmental biologist Marta Shahbazi
· BehindLines newsroom
The Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge is paying tribute to Marta Shahbazi, who led a team in its cell biology division. Her institution confirms that she died in the train collision near Urda in Spain on Wednesday 28 October. She was travelling to receive a scientific award.
Euronews reported the news on 1 November. The laboratory expresses its grief and offers support to members of its institution. Alongside that tribute, its research pages explain the questions the biologist was investigating.
How cells acquire their roles
The Spanish Society for Developmental Biology describes her work as exploring the organisation of the earliest stages of the human embryo. Her team studied how a cell's position and surroundings influence its behaviour. It combined the analysis of embryos with stem cell models and organoids.
The Cambridge laboratory sets out a related objective: understanding how cells take on different identities while the embryo changes shape. The challenge is to connect their specialisation with where and when it happens. Implantation in the uterus was a central focus of this research.
According to the same account, the human embryos studied had been donated for research following assisted reproduction procedures. Their use was covered by authorisation from the United Kingdom's regulator for human fertilisation and embryology. The page distinguishes the mechanisms of normal development from errors that can disrupt it.
An award made before the accident
On 12 September, the scientific society had announced that its 2026 José Luis Gómez-Skarmeta award would go to Marta Shahbazi for her contributions to understanding early human development. The presentation was scheduled during its congress in El Rompido, in the province of Huelva, from 28 to 30 October.
The September award decision and the planned ceremony are separate stages. The research described concerns understanding embryonic development. These tributes do not announce any new treatment or clinical finding.