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• ICREA researcher at IRB Barcelona, Salvador Aznar Benitah (Montreal, Canada), studies how human tissue regenerates, why they age, and why tumours develop over time, with a special focus on skin and the oral mucosa.
• In 2010, another IRB Barcelona researcher, Eduard Batlle, coordinator of the Oncology Programme and head of the Colorectal Cancer Lab, received the same prize.
Salvador Aznar Benitah (Montreal, Canada, 1975), ICREA researcher at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), has been awarded the IX Bank of Sabadell Prize for Biomedical Research, with a value of 50,000 euros. Selected from among more than 65 candidates, the jury has recognized “his contributions to the field of stem cell research, and in particular, for discovering the influence of the circadian rhythm on the behaviour of adult stem cells.” According to the members of the jury, “this finding has important implications in the fields of ageing and cancer.” The 38-year-old scientist heads the IRB Barcelona group “Stem Cells and Cancer”, which comprises 11 members of staff.
“This prize is the most important in Spain and among the biggest at the international level, both with respect to the amount and for the individual nature of the award, and it thus represents recognition at the highest level,” explains Carlos López-Otín, chair of the jury. Eduard Batlle, coordinator of the Oncology Programme at IRB Barcelona and head of the “Colorectal Cancer Laboratory” received the V Prize in 2010. The prize-giving ceremony will take place in Barcelona on 1 July in the “Recinto Modernista” of the “Hospital de Sant Pau”.
The research of Salvador Aznar
The group addresses several aspects of the behaviour of stem cells in both healthy tissue and in disease. Basic studies on the biology of this type of cell helps the researchers to understand why stem cells stop working properly in ageing tissues and why they deviate from strict behavioural rules, giving rise to tumours.
He holds an ICREA professorship from the “Generalitat de Catalunya” and projects supported by the European Research Council (ERC), namely an ERC Starting Grant, ("Consolidators" panel 2012-2017), as well as two projects funded by the UK’s Association for International Cancer Research. The Beug Foundation (Germany), has recently awarded him the 2013 Metastasis Prize, which brings with it 12,000 euros for the development of a scientific project on the metastasis of skin cancer.
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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).
