UAB Surgery General Surgery Resident Dr. Clara Nicolas Martinez was selected as a recipient of the “Exceptional Award” from the faculty of the Department of Medicine from the University of Barcelona for her outstanding scholarship in her Ph.D. program.

To be eligible for the application process, students must graduate cum laude from a University of Barcelona Ph.D. program. Recipients are then eligible to apply for the XXVII Award of the Council of Doctors, which is only granted to the individual with the most outstanding contribution to their field of study.

Martinez’s dissertation is entitled “Ex vivo and in vivo lentiviral gene therapy for the treatment of hereditary tyrosinemia type 1” and studies the treatment of genetic metabolic disorders.

“I am so grateful to have been chosen for this outstanding accolade,” says Martinez. “I am thankful for the faculty at both the University of Barcelona and the University of Alabama at Birmingham for all they have invested in my research and career as a surgeon.”

Martinez will travel to the University of Barcelona to receive her award on May 23.

“We are exceptionally proud of Dr. Martinez’s contributions as both a general surgery resident and a surgeon-scientist,” says General Surgery Program Director Dr. Britney Corey. “This is truly an outstanding honor, and we are thankful to have Dr. Martinez’s background and research knowledge in our program.”