Prof Vicent earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2001 from the Univ. Jaume I in Spain. She conducted significant scientific work during multiple research visits to Prof. Fréchet's lab at the Univ. of California, Berkeley, USA.Transitioning into biomedically-oriented research, María initially collaborated with the Spanish company Instituto Biomar S.A. Following this, she pursued a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2002 at the Centre for Polymer Therapeutics, Univ.Cardiff, UK, under the guidance of Prof. R. Duncan.In 2004, Dr. Vicent joined the Prince Felipe Research Center (CIPF) in Valencia, Spain, as a research associate through a Marie Curie Reintegration contract. She advanced to become the head of the Polymer Therapeutics Lab. at CIPF in 2006. Currently, María oversees the Screening Platform, a Specialist Site in the EU-OPENSCREEN European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). She serves as the Scientific Director and coordinates the Cancer Program at CIPF. Additionally, she contributes to the Strategic Committee of the Valencian Agency of Innovation (AVI), is a member of the excellence network CIBERONC, and holds the position of Director at Large for the Controlled Release Society (CRS) since 2021. María is also the Editor-in-Chief of Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews.

Dr. Vicent's research group (http://www.VicentResearchLab.com), specializes in developing novel nanopharmaceuticals for therapeutic and diagnostic applications, particularly in addressing unmet clinical needs through Polymer Therapeutics. Her work has been supported by national and European grants, including prestigious awards like the ERC Consolidator grant-MyNano, ERCPoC-POLYMMUNE, ERCPoC-Polybraint, and Fund Health La Caixa-NanoPanTher and NanoGBA, received from both academia and industry. María has been honored with several awards, including Idea and Women in Science recognition. Recognized for her contributions, Dr. Vicent is a member of the National Academy of Inventors (FNAI) and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows since 2019. She was also inducted into the Controlled Release Society (CRS) College of Fellows in 2021. María has co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed papers and holds 15 patents. Six of these patents have been licensed to the pharmaceutical industry, with one contributing to the founding of the spin-off company 'Polypeptide Therapeutic Solutions S.L.' in Valencia, Spain, established in 2012 and rebranded as Curapath after its acquisition by Arcline in 2021.