Principle Investigator of VHIO´s Mouse Models of Cancer Therapy Group, Laura Soucek has been awarded this year´s Fero (Fundación de Investigación Oncológica) grant for translational cancer research for her pioneering work using mouse models to counteract tumoral activity triggered by ´the oncogene from Hell´*, Myc.
Sponsored by the Josep Botet Foundation, the Fero grant of 70.000 EURO in support of talented young oncology professionals, was presented to Laura Soucek yesterday by Crown Princess Letizia of Spain at a special award ceremony hosted by the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA).
Having shown inhibition of Myc as a powerful antitumoral strategy in mouse models – undoubtedly representing an important step towards developing more effective, targeted therapies for cancer patients in the future – the grant will fuel further essential research aimed at identifying cellular components to inhibit Myc and drug design to act against it.
Joining VHIO in March 2011 from the prestigious University of California San Francisco, Soucek acknowledged the generosity of the Botet Foundation and thanked the selection committee headed by the internationally renowned oncologist Carlos López Otín:´I am sincerely grateful to the Fundacion Fero and the Botet family for this wonderful opportunity, and I will strive to honor their generosity´.
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* Soucek L, Evan G. Myc-Is this the oncogene from Hell? Cancer Cell 2002 Jun; 1(5): 406-8
