Last Tuesday, 31 October, the kick-off meeting of the IDIBAPS Translational Cancer Research Programme was held in the Esteve Auditorium at the CEK. The event was attended by Montserrat Capdevila, from the ”la Caixa” Foundation, the organization that funds the programme; Michela Bertero, director of strategy at IDIBAPS; and the heads of six of the groups that form part of the programme:
- Translational research in liver cancer, led by Josep Maria Llovet (programme coordinator)
- Gene therapy and cancer, led by Cristina Fillat (programme coordinator)
- Gastrointestinal and pancreatic cancer, led by Antoni Castells
- Melanoma: imaging, genetics and immunology, led by Susana Puig
- Genetic predisposition to gastrointestinal cancer, led by Sergi Castellví
- Translational genomics of colorectal cancer, led by Jordi Camps
Soon, two more groups will be added, the one planned to be created by the researcher, Sílvia Affo, and the Molecular pathology of inflammatory conditions and solid tumours group led by Míriam Cuatrecasas.
The programme aims to define the populations at risk of developing cancer through the use of artificial intelligence algorithms and genomic data, to define the determinants of response and resistance to molecular therapies and immunotherapies, and to develop strategies to overcome resistance through both tissue samples from treated patients and new pre-clinical models.
About the IDIBAPS research programmes
In 2022, IDIBAPS launched a new initiative to promote collaboration between the institution’s research groups: the creation of the so-called, “Multidisciplinary research programmes”. The programmes bring together different IDIBAPS groups in order to establish collaborations, especially between basic and clinical groups, with the participation of junior and senior researchers and where female leadership is promoted.
Eight applications were submitted and a commission formed by members of the external scientific committee selected three programmes. Each one receives an endowment of €400,000. The translational cancer research programme, which received the highest score, is funded by the ”la Caixa” Foundation, and the other two by IDIBAPS. The other two programmes are:
- Synaptic Autoimmunity in Neurology, Psychiatry and Cognitive Neuroscience Programme.
- Lymphoid Neoplasms Programme
A new internal call for applications is scheduled to open at the end of the year in order to set up new programmes.
