SQI visiting scholar Zaida Alvarez has received the Rafael Hervada Award for Biomedical Research in recognition of her recent first-author paper in Science describing an injectable therapy that reversed paralysis in mice following severe spinal cord injuries. The Hervada Award honors innovation in scientific and medical research, and is considered one of the top prizes awarded in Spain for biomedical research. Alvarez performed the work while she was a postdoctoral fellow and later a Research Assistant Professor in the laboratory of SQI director Samuel Stupp, who was the corresponding author of the paper. Alvarez is now a Ramon y Cajal Researcher at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia in Barcelona (IBEC). The key innovation in the winning research was the ability to harness the supramolecular motion of molecules within peptide amphiphile (PA) nanofibers to increase the efficacy of the therapy. The researchers discovered that molecules with enhanced motion — which have been nicknamed ‘dancing molecules’ — facilitated greater tissue repair and functional recovery in mice that had experienced paralyzing spinal cord injuries. Within four weeks of receiving a single injection, the mice regained the ability to walk. In the Q&A below, Alvarez discussed the significance of the Hervada Award as well as the reaction the study received following its publication in November.