Ilia Villate graduated in Human Biology (2013) and obtained a master's degree in Pharmaceutical Industry and Biotechnology (2014) at the University Pompeu Fabra. She developed her Ph.D. in non-viral gene delivery at the NanoBioCel research group of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), with an international 5-month research stay at the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She obtained her international Doctorate in 2018 and since 2020, she is a postdoctoral researcher in the NanoBioCel group. She has combined her research with university teaching in the Faculties of Pharmacy and Medicine of the UPV/EHU, where she has taught the subjects of Pharmaceutical Technology, Galenic Pharmacy, Applied Medical Pharmacology, Research Project, Extension of Organic Chemistry, Chemistry II, Toxicology and Dermopharmacy. She is part of the NanoBioCel research group and of the CiberBBN. Her main research lines focus on the field of non-viral vectors for gene therapy. Specifically, her research work is based on the development and evaluation of non-viral vectors based on polymers, lipids or other nanomaterials, able to transport different therapeutic nucleic acids into target cells.