A British scientist was on her way to collect a prestigious award when she was killed in the Spanish rail disaster that claimed at least 69 lives this week.

Dr Marta Shahbazi, a leading expert in cell biology and embryology, was on board one of the two high speed services that collided on Wednesday near the town of Urda, south of Madrid.

The 41-year-old researcher, who headed her own laboratory at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, had been travelling to south-west Spain to receive the award from the Spanish Society for Developmental Biology.

Paying tribute, the LMB said it was “deeply saddened by the tragic death of our colleague”.

Dr Marta Shahbazi, group leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and affiliate associate professor at the University of Cambridge (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology)

“Marta was an inspiring, talented and passionate scientist,” the research institute said. “Her death is a profound shock and a huge loss.…