[3] One book she read described how proteins were made in cells, which influenced her decision to study biochemistry and she completed her thesis in 1985 under the supervision of Eladio Viñuela Díaz [es].

[5] In the 1980s, del Val began working at the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Centre [es], a research institute at the UAM jointly run by the university and the CSIC.

del Val returned to Spain in the 1990s, having developed an experimental vaccine design based on isolated T-cell epitopes.

[10] In 2021 she received the "Medalla de Honor a los Valores Sociales" from Menéndez Pelayo International University for her work in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[11] del Val is married to the biologist Enrique J. de la Rosa, who she met at the UAM in 1977.