Amaia Echaide, former student of the School of Medicine, receives the Prize for the best Final Year Project from the Fundacíon Mutal Medica

Former student of the School of Medicine (MED’21) Amaia Echaide has received the prize for the best TFG from the Fundación Mutual Médica for her research titled “The sentinel node in breast cancer: how many nodes need to be resected to find the true sentinel node".

A prize of €2,000, it is a recognition introduced in the XXXI edition of the Medical Research Awards, which seek to support young doctors and encourage medical research as a fundamental axis to improve people's health and quality of life.

"The jury valued the rigor with which the research was carried out, the methodology and the undoubted clinical interest of the results obtained," said Dr. Mª Pilar Tornos, president of the jury and treasurer of the Mutual Médica Foundation, during the awards ceremony, which took place in Santander. "Amaia Echaide has come to the conclusion that in the vast majority of cases of breast tumor, the removal of only two nodes has a diagnostic accuracy of 99%. Applying the results of her study, surgery becomes less aggressive with a consequent reduction in patient morbidity".

Amaia Echaide collected the award accompanied by Dr. Marta Moreno, director of the research work and specialist in Radiation Oncology at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra. "This award is recognition of the effort made by all the students throughout their studies and which culminates in the completion of this work. It is also a link between the end of university life and the beginning of a professional career which, at this time of preparation for the MIR, seems so far away", said Echaide in her acceptance speech. She mentioned her academic tutor, Dr. Macarena Rodríguez Fraile, for the importance she has had in her career: "From the beginning she has been able to transmit to me the interest in research and the scientific method. This has helped me realize how satisfying it can be to work to be able to contribute something, no matter how small, to this profession".

In total, 236 physicians, residents and students submitted their candidatures for the 31st Medical Research Awards 2021, which were judged by a jury composed of Dr. Mª Pilar Tornos, Dr. Alejandro Andreu, President of the Foundation, Dr. Santiago Aguadé and Dr. Rosa Boyé, members of the Board of Directors of Mutual Médica, and Dr. Jaume Figueras. They based their decision on the professionalism of the researcher or signatory, as well as his or her research team that endorses the work, and on the usefulness of the research in clinical practice.