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- Six projects at IRB Barcelona are awarded funding from the Asociación Contra el Cáncer.
- IRB Barcelona is an accredited centre within the AECC Excellence Programme: Metastasis.
IRB Barcelona gains fresh impetus for its research projects through the AECC 2025 Grants awarded by the Asociación Contra el Cáncer a Barcelona (AECC) (the Barcelona branch of the Association Against Cancer). A total of 6 researchers from IRB Barcelona have secured funding to advance studies aimed at deepening our understanding of cancer and developing more effective therapeutic strategies. In addition, IRB Barcelona is a recognised centre in the AECC Excellence Programme: Metastasis.
During the presentation ceremony for the AECC 2025 Grants, the Asociación Contra el Cáncer a Barcelona announced a total allocation of €13.11 million, aimed at projects that will be carried out in the province of Barcelona and that address all stages of scientific knowledge, from basic research to innovation and clinical trials.
The award ceremony, held at the MGS Auditorium in Barcelona on 25 February, was atended by the Hon. Núria Montserrat, Minister of Research and Universities of the Government of Catalonia and Dr. Laureano Molins, President of the Asociación Contra el Cáncer a Barcelona, who emphasized the organization’s commitment to people-centered research with real impact and reaffirmed the shared challenge of surpassing a 70% cancer survival rate by 2030.
At the national level, the Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC) is the private social entity allocating the most funds to cancer research, with €157 million committed to 792 ongoing grants involving more than 3,000 researchers across 160 research centres in 38 provinces. In 2025, the Association awarded €40 million in 282 new grants.
Currently, 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will develop cancer during their lifetime, with average survival rates of 55.3% in men and 61.7% in women. These figures underscore the need to prioritise research efforts across society.
• Mark Foundation 2025 (€352,505): awarded to Dr. Eduard Batlle, the project aims to achieve more effective treatments for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.
• AECC Talent 2025 (€259,200): awarded to Dr. Davide Carra, the project addresses new diagnostics and therapeutics that can improve the survival of patients with pancreatic cancer.
• AECC Talent 2025 (€259,200): awarded to Dr. Magali Scocozza, the project seeks to find ways to halt advanced prostate cancer by interrupting molecular “conversations”.
• AECC Talent 2025 (€237,600): awarded to Dr. María del Rocio Chamorro, this project explores the impact of chemotherapy on healthy cells, seeking to identify ways to reduce associated side effects.
• AECC Talent 2025 (€237,600): awarded to Dr. Quirze Rovira, the project seeks to unravel the origin of childhood cancer to help develop new treatments for these patients.
• AECC Talent 2025 (€237,600): awarded to Dr. Serena Galiè, the project seeks to study whether the interaction between microplastics and intestinal flora affects the development of colorectal cancer in young patients.
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
