This morning, the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) conferred an honorary doctorate upon Mariana Concepción Castells Guitart, an allergist and pioneer in pharmacological desensitization. The new Doctor Honoris Causa’s sponsor was Professor Emeritus of Medicine Francisco Javier Fernández Sánchez. During the ceremony, 89 new doctoral degrees were also awarded, and 13 Extraordinary Doctoral Prizes were presented. The event also featured a performance by the Camerata Numen.

The event was presided over by the rector of the UMH, Juan José Ruiz Martínez; the president of the UMH Social Council, Joaquín Pérez Vázquez; the deputy vice-rector for Research Management of the University, José María Azorín Poveda; the regional secretary of Universities of the Valencian Government, Esther Gómez Martín; and the general secretary of the UMH, Mercedes Sánchez Castillo.

Mariana Concepción Castells has also inaugurated a tree bearing her name in the Garden of Honors on the Elche campus of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH). Specifically, the newly minted Doctor Honoris Causa chose a date palm (Phoenix dactylifera). The Garden of Honors is located near the Rectorate and Social Council building and its purpose is to preserve and honor the various honorary doctorates conferred by the UMH. This initiative began several years ago, and in it, each recipient chooses a tree to be planted alongside informational signs displaying the recipient’s name, the common name and specific name of the tree, as well as a QR code with further details about the planted tree. The Garden of Honoris features a variety of trees, including palm trees, olive trees, pomegranate trees, carob trees, pines, elms, poplars, laurel, holm oaks, oaks, strawberry trees, and other less common species such as the Judas tree, coral tree, cedars, ginkgos, chinaberry, and catalpa. It also includes a fig tree, dedicated to Miguel Hernández.

Since the 1990s, Castells Guitart has been a researcher and professor at Harvard Medical School (USA), where she directs the Center for Drug Desensitization and Hypersensitivity and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Mastocytosis Center. Her work has transformed how medicine addresses drug allergies, especially in cancer patients. She has developed drug desensitization protocols that are now applied as international standards, allowing thousands of people to continue their treatments without endangering their lives. Another of her key research areas is mastocytosis, a rare type of blood cancer that occurs when mast cells—immune cells involved in allergies—multiply and release inflammatory substances uncontrollably. Castells has established new diagnostic and therapeutic methods for mastocytosis and has spearheaded clinical trials with tyrosine kinase inhibitors, a class of drugs capable of halting this abnormal cell activation.

Invitation DHC Saint Thomas

CEREMONIAL ST THOMAS 2026 SPANISH

CEREMONIAL ST THOMAS 2026 VALENCIAN

SCHEDULE

LAUDATIO GOOFATHER MR. FCO JAVIER FERNÁNDEZ SÁNCHEZ

DISCURSO DHC MRS. MARIANA C. CASTELLS GUITART

UMH RECTOR’S SPEECH

INTERVIEW WITH MARIANA C. CASTELLS GUITART

IMAGES