Inflammation, Tissue Plasticity & Cancer

Trip Lab

Desactivado

Dra. Direna Alonso-Curbelo

Junior Group Leader

Telephone:

+34 93 40 37162

Email:

direna.alonso-curbelo@irbbarcelona.org

Meet Our Scientists Videos

Interview with Dr. Direna Alonso Curbelo, recipient of the inaugural 2024 Cancer Discovery Early Career Award

Research information

Selected publications

scKINETICS: inference of regulatory velocity with single-cell transcriptomics data

Burdziak, C; Zhao, CJ; Haviv, D; Alonso-Curbelo, D; Lowe, SW; Pe'er, D

Bioinformatics,

(39 Suppl 1 )

i394

- i403

(2023)

Epigenetic plasticity cooperates with cell-cell interactions to direct pancreatic tumorigenesis

Burdziak, C; Alonso-Curbelo, D; Walle, T; Reyes, J; Barriga, F; Haviv, D; Xie, YB; Zhao, Z; Zhao, CJ; Chen, HA; Chaudhary, O; Masilionis, I; Choo, ZN; Gao, V; Luan, W; Wuest, A; Ho, YJ; Wei, YH; Quail, DF; Koche, R; Mazutis, L; Chaligné, R; Nawy, T; Lowe, SW; Pe'er, D

Science,

380

(6645 )

597

(2023)

A gene–environment-induced epigenetic program initiates tumorigenesis

Alonso-Curbelo D, Ho YJ, Burdziak C, Maag JLV, Morris JP 4th, Chandwani R, Chen HA, Tsanov KM, Barriga FM, Luan L, Tasdemir N, Livshits G, Azizi E, Chun J, Wilkinson JE, Mazutis L, Leach SD, Koche R, Pe’er D, Lowe SW.

Nature,

(2021)

Senolytic CAR T cells reverse senescence-associated pathologies

Amor C*, Feucht J*, Leibold J*, Ho Y-J, Zhu C, Alonso-Curbelo D, Mansilla-Soto J, Boyer JA, Li X, Giavridis T, Kulick A, Houlihan S, et al, Sadelain M, Lowe SW.
(*) these authors contributed equally

Nature,

(2020)

An in vivo KRAS allelic series reveals distinct phenotypes of common oncogenic variants

Paz Zafra M, Parsons MJ, Kim J, Alonso-Curbelo D, Goswami S, Schatoff EM, Han T, Katti A, Calvo Fernandez MT, Wilkinson JE, Piskounova E and Dow LE.

Cancer Discovery ,

(2020)

Chromatin-informed inference of transcriptional programs in gynecologic and basal breast cancer

Osmanbeyoglu HU, Shimizu F*, Rynne-Vidal A*, Alonso-Curbelo D*, Chen HA, Wen HY, Yeung TL, Jelinic P, Razavi P, Lowe SW, Mok SC, Chiosis G, Levine DA, Leslie CS.
(*) these authors contributed equally

Nature Communications ,

(2019)

Pluripotency transcription factors and Tet1/2 maintain Brd4-independent stem cell identity

Finley LWS*, Vardhana SA*, Carey BW*, Alonso-Curbelo D, Koche R, Chen Y, Wen D, King B, Radler MR, Rafii S, et al, [corr author] Thompson CB.
(*) these authors contributed equally

Nature Cell Biology ,

(2018)

Arid1a restrains Kras-dependent changes in acinar cell identity

Livshits D, Alonso-Curbelo D, Morris JP4th, Koche R, Saborowski M, Wilkinson JE, Lowe SW

eLife,

(2018)

BRD4 connects super enhancer remodeling to senescence immune surveillance

Tasdemir N*, Banito B*, Roe JS*, Alonso-Curbelo D*, Camiolo M, Tschaharganeh DF, Huang CH, Aksoy O, Bolden JE, Chen CC, Fennell M, Thapar V, Chicas A, Vakoc CV, Lowe SW.
(*) these authors contributed equally

Cancer Discovery ,

(2016)

Hyperactivated endolysosomal trafficking in melanoma

Alonso-Curbelo D, Soengas MS

Oncotarget,

(2015)

RAB7 counteracts PI3K-driven macropinocytosis activated at early stages of melanoma development

Alonso-Curbelo D, Osterloh L, Cañón E, Calvo TG, Martínez-Herranz R, Karras P, Martínez S, et al, [corr. author] Soengas MS.

Oncotarget ,

(2015)

RAB7 controls melanoma progression by exploiting a lineage-specific wiring of the endolysosomal pathway

Alonso-Curbelo D, Riveiro-Falkenbach E, Pérez-Guijarro E, Cifdaloz M, Karras P, Osterloh L, Megías D, Cañón E, et al, [corr. author] Soengas MS.

Cancer Cell ,

(2014)

Self-killing of melanoma cells by cytosolic delivery of dsRNA: Wiring innate immunity for a coordinated mobilization of endosomes, autophagosomes and the apoptotic machinery in tumor cells

Alonso-Curbelo D, Soengas MS

Autophagy ,

(2010)

Targeted activation of innate immunity for therapeutic induction of autophagy and apoptosis in melanoma cells

Tormo D, Checińska A, Alonso-Curbelo D, Pérez-Guijarro E, Cañón E, Riveiro-Falkenbach E, Calvo TG, Larribere L, et al, [corr. author] Soengas MS.

Cancer Cell ,

(2009)

Projects

Plan de Generación de Conocimiento 2021. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.

PID2021-128102OA-I00. Dissecting and targeting early epigenetic programs in pancreatic cancer (PRE-CAN)

SGR-Cat 2021

Grup de Recerca emergent (SGR-Cat 2021) del Departament de Recerca i Universitats. Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR). Referència: 2021 SGR 01586.

Redes de investigación 2022

RED2022-134296-T. RAS oncoproteins: from basic science to therapeutic applications (RAS-CURE). This project is a consortium, headed by Dr. David Santamaría from CIC Salamanca.

US DoD Pancreatic Cancer Research Program Idea Development Award

Award Number: W81XWH-22-1-0813. Log Number: PA210096. Epigenetic Licensing of Pancreatic Cancer Metastasis.

II Ayuda de Investigación en Cáncer FERO-ASEICA

BFERO2021.06. Intercepting onco-inflammatory networks in pancreatic cancer.

La Caixa Foundation Junior Leader Incoming

LCF/BQ/PI20/11760006. Dissecting and targeting cell and tissue fate dysregulation in pancreatic cancer.

TRANSCAN 3 - JTC 2022

"Systemic immunological determinants of tumor evolution and therapy response in BRCA-mutated pancreatic cancer" financiado por Fundación Científica Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer. Referencia: TRNSC235656ALON.

"Systemic immunological determinants of tumor evolution and therapy response in BRCA-mutated pancreatic cancer" financiado por la Unión Europea – NextGenerationEU. Referencia: TRANSCAN2022-784-028.

Policies

Honors & Awards

2021 Blavtanik Regional Award for Young Scientists, Winner in Life Sciences category (USA)
2021 Hipatia Prize for Young Talent in Science, Finalist (2nd position) (Spain)
2021 Bentejui Young Award, Winner in Professional category, Bentejui Youth Association (Spain)
2020 La Caixa Postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellowship, La Caixa Foundation (Spain).
2018 Benjamin F. Trump Award for Scientific Research Excellence, Aspen Cancer Conference (USA)
2014 Ramón Areces Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (Spain).
2014 Extraordinary Doctorate Award, Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain).
2010 Society for Melanoma Research (SMR) Travel Grant (USA).
2010 EMBO Short-Term Fellowship, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
2008 National Graduate Research Fellowship (FPU), Spanish Ministry of Education (Spain).
2009 Biomedical Sciences Schools’ Valedictorian, Complutense University of Madrid (Spain).
2008 National Award in Pharmaceutical Sciences (3rd pos), Spanish Ministry of Education (Spain).
2007 Undergraduate Research Fellowship (Beca-Colaboración), Spanish Ministry of Education (Spain).

Leadership & Science Outreach

2021 Invited Speaker at the Commemorative Act of International Women's Day, University of La Laguna (Tenerife, Spain).
2021 Co-organizer and participant of Spanish Association for Cancer Research (ASEICA)’s event Conócelas that connected 150 women scientists with >6500 students across Spain.
2018 Co-organizer and moderator of Faculty Panel, Women in Science & Medicine Series, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, USA).
*Write-up in Scientific American blog: “Today’s Paths to Leadership: A Different Perspective”. (2018): Mayle A, Alonso-Curbelo D, Neill US. Lifebeyond the Laboratory Bench. goo.gl/i1fmHY
2017 Co-leader of Fundraising Team, “Scientists –ReSearching for a Cure” team (New York, USA) at PurpleStride initiative from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN).