ipuig@vhio.net

Twitter: @IPuigBorreil

Bluesky: @ipuigborreil.bsky.social

LinkdIn: https://es.linkedin.com/in/isabelpuigborreil

Posición actual

Senior Investigator at VHIO’s Stem Cells & Cancer Group

Áreas DE INVESTIGACIÓN

• Mecanismos no genéticos subyacentes al fenotipo de proliferación lenta y a la persistencia de las células del cáncer colorrectal.
• Mecanismos epigenéticos y postranscripcionales que controlan la entrada, el mantenimiento y la reactivación de las células cancerosas persistentes tolerantes a los fármacos.
• Identificación de vulnerabilidades en las células cancerosas persistentes y desarrollo de estrategias terapéuticas dirigidas contra ellas.

EducaCIÓN

• PhD in Health and Life Sciences, University Pompeu Fabra, 2005.
• MSc in Health and Life Sciences, University Pompeu Fabra, 2002.
• BSc in Biology (Health Sciences specialization), University of Barcelona, 2000.

EXPERIENCIA PROFESIONAL

• Senior Postdoctoral Researcher, Stem Cells & Cancer Group, VHIO, Barcelona, Spain. September 2009 – December 2019.
• Postdoctoral Researcher, Normal and Pathological Development of Melanocytes Group, Institute Curie, Orsay, France. August 2005 – August 2009.
• PhD Student, Mechanisms of Tumorigenesis and Tumor Progression Group, IMIM-Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain. April 2001 – May 2005.
• Internship Student, Mechanisms of Tumorigenesis and Tumor Progression Group, IMIM-Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain. September 1999 – March 2001.

PREMIOS Y RECONOCIMIENTOS

• Investigador AECC Fellowship, Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer, 2025.
• R3 Researcher Accreditation, Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, 2024.
• TOP 3 Best Entrepreneur in Catalonia, EAE Business School Barcelona, 2024.
• Investigador AECC Fellowship, Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer, 2021.
• Investigador AECC Fellowship, Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer, 2017.
• Ayuda para Investigadores in Oncología AECC, Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer, 2010.
• ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship, Fondation ARC pour la Recherche sur le Cancer, 2006.
• FPU Predoctoral Fellowship, Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, 2001.

SOPORTE EN LA INVESTIGACIÓN

Investigadora principal:

• Proyecto de I+D+I en Salud-FIS. PI24/00538. TITLE: “Uncovering novel rational drug combinations to overcome colorectal cancer persistence”. FUNDING AGENCY: Instituto de Salud Carlos III. DURATION: 2025-2027. BUDGET: 208,750 €. PI: Isabel Puig.
• Ideas Semilla AECC. IDEAS20033PUIG. TITLE: “Dormancy and autophagy: decoding the molecular mechanism that mediates cancer drug resistance”. FUNDING AGENCY: Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer. DURATION: 2020-2022. BUDGET: 20,000 €. PI: Isabel Puig.
• Innova AECC. TITLE: “First-in-class small drug activators of TET2 for the treatment of cancer”. FUNDING AGENCY: Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer. DURATION: 2020-2022. BUDGET: 180,000 €. PI: Isabel Puig. Coordinator: Héctor G Palmer.
• CaixaImpulse. TITLE: “A novel approach to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of CAR cells”. FUNDING AGENCY: Obra Social Fundació la Caixa. DURATION: 2021-2022. BUDGET: 70,000 €. VHIO Scientific Leader: Isabel Puig. Project Leader: Carlos Galdeano.

Becas:

• Investigador AECC Fellowship. INVES258535PUIG. TITLE: “Identifying new pharmacological targets and therapeutic strategies to treat colorectal cancer persistence”. FUNDING AGENCY: Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer. DURATION: 2025-2029. Recipient & Scientific co-leader: Isabel Puig. Supervisor: Héctor G Palmer.
• Investigador AECC Fellowship. INVES211004PUIG. TITLE: “Deciphering the molecular mechanisms of tumour cell resistance to cancer therapies”. FUNDING AGENCY: Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer. DURATION: 2021-2025. Recipient & Scientific co-leader: Isabel Puig. Supervisor: Héctor G Palmer.
• Investigador AECC Fellowship. INVES191PORT. TITLE: “TET2 inhibition as a new therapeutic strategy against cancer progression”. FUNDING AGENCY: Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer. DURATION: 2017-2021. Recipient & Scientific co-leader: Isabel Puig. Supervisor: Héctor G Palmer.

Transferencia de tecnología e innovación

• European patent EP21382343.8. Palmer HG, Puig I, Tabernero J, Galdeano C, Muñoz-Torrero D, Barril X, Ruiz S. «Compounds for use in the treatment of hyperproliferative disorders«. Filed 21/04/2021 by VHIO, University of Barcelona, and ICREA. Licensed to Oniria Therapeutics (23/12/2021).
• Co-founder of Oniria Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing first-in-class therapies targeting cancer persistence. The company was created in December 2021 to advance the patented technology toward clinical development.

Supervisión y mentoria

• 2026-ongoing: Co-direction. PhD Student Miquel Arañó. VHIO.
• 2025-ongoing: Co-direction. Industrial PhD Student Clara Díaz. VHIO-Oniria Therapeutics-UB.
• 2024-2025: Co-direction. MSc Student Eva Reig. “Proteomic profiling and integrated multi-omics characterization of persistent cancer cells”. VHIO-IQS Ramon Llull University.
• 2023-ongoing: Co-direction. PhD Student Peijin Jiang. VHIO-UAB.
• 2023: Mentor in the ASEICA mentoring programme.
• 2020-2026: Co-direction. PhD Student Candida Salvans. “Exploiting hypoxia and autophagy vulnerabilities to overcome DPPA3-induced colorectal cancer persistence”. Excellent Cum Laude. VHIO-UB.
• 2019-2020: Co-supervision. MSc Student Claudia Bigas. “Dormancy and autophagy: decoding the molecular mechanism that mediates cancer drug resistance”. VHIO-UPF.
• 2014-2019: Co-direction. PhD Student Estefania Cuesta. “Role of DPPA3 in hypoxia and tumour dormancy in cancer”. Excellent Cum Laude. VHIO-UB.

Membresias profesionales

• 2021-2025: Member of the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme in Biomedicine (University of Barcelona).
• 2020-ongoing: ASEICA member
• 2020-ongoing: WIA member
• 2018-ongoing: EACR member

Desarrollo profesional

• 2025: Training workshop on “Gestión del tiempo en la carrera investigadora” for Principal Investigators. Organised by ASEICA.
• 2023: Training workshop on “The Road to Competitive Funding: Tools, Perspectives, & Processes”. Organised by VHIO.
• 2022: Training workshop on “Managing myself & working with my team: a skills upgrade for Group Leaders”. Organised by ASEICA.
• 2021: Programme on “Tech Transfer Leadership in Life Sciences”. Organised by la Caixa and Barcelona School of Management UPF.
• 2018: “Ready4Growth: investment readiness program in the healthcare sector”. Organised by Col·legi Oficial de Metges de Barcelona (COMB).
• 2017: Workshop on “Claus per Bioemprendre”. Organised by Fundació Bosch i Gimpera – UB.

publicaciones destacadas

Publicaciones científicas:

• Cuesta-Borràs E*, Salvans C*, Arqués O, Chicote I, Ramírez L, Cabellos L, Martínez-Quintanilla J, Mur-Espinosa A, García-Álvarez A, Hernando J, Tejedor JR, Mirallas O, Élez E, Fraga MF, Tabernero J, Nuciforo P, Capdevila J, Palmer HG, Puig I (Corresponding author). “DPPA3-HIF1a axis controls colorectal cancer chemoresistance by imposing a slow cell-cycle phenotype”. Cell Rep. 2023. 42(8):112937. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112927. PMID: 37537841. (*These authors contributed equally)
• Martini G, Belli V, Napolitano S, Ciaramella V, Ciardiello D, Belli A, Izzo F, Avallone A, Selvaggi F, Menegon Tasselli F, Santaniello W, Franco R, Puig I, Ramírez L, Chicote I, Mancuso F, Caratu G, Serres X, Fasani R, Jimenez J, Ros J, Baraibar I, Mulet N, Della Corte CM, Troiani T, Vivancos A, Dienstmann R, Elez E, Palmer HG, Tabernero J, Martinelli E, Ciardiello F, Argilés G. “Establishment of patient-derived tumor organoids to functionally inform treatment decisions in metastatic colorectal cancer”. ESMO Open. 2023. 8(3):101198. doi: 10.1016/j.esmoop.2023.101198. PMID: 37119788.
• Puig I, Tenbaum SP, Chicote I, Arqués O, Martínez-Quintanilla J, Cuesta-Borràs E, Ramírez L, Gonzalo P, Soto A, Aguilar S, Eguizabal C, Caratù G, Prat A, Argilés G, Landolfi S, Casanovas O, Serra V, Villanueva A, Arroyo AG, Terracciano L, Nuciforo P, Seoane J, Recio JA, Vivancos A, Dienstmann R, Tabernero J, Palmer HG. “TET2 controls chemoresistant slow-cycling cancer cell survival and tumour recurrence”. J Clin Invest. 2018. 128(9):3887-3905. doi: 10.1172/JCI96393. PMID: 29944140.
• Arqués O, Chicote I, Puig I, Tenbaum SP, Argilés G, Dienstmann R, Fernández N, Caratù G, Matito J, Silberschmidt D, Rodon J, Landolfi S, Prat A, Espín E, Charco R, Nuciforo P, Vivancos A, Shao W, Tabernero J, Palmer HG. “Tankyrase inhibition blocks Wnt/beta-catenin pathway and reverts resistance to PI3K and AKT inhibitors in the treatment of colorectal cancer”. Clin Cancer Res. 2016. 22(3):644-56. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-14-3081. PMID: 26224873.
• Puig I, Chicote I, Tenbaum SP, Arqués O, Herance JR, Gispert JD, Jimenez J, Landolfi S, Caci K, Allende H, Mendizabal L, Moreno D, Charco R, Espín E, Prat A, Elez E, Argilés G, Vivancos A, Tabernero J, Rojas S, Palmer HG. “A personalized preclinical model to evaluate the metastatic potential of patient-derived colon cancer initiating cells”. Clin Cancer Res. 2013. 19(24):6787-801. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-12-1740. PMID: 24170545.
• Tenbaum SP*, Ordóñez-Morán P*; Puig I*, Chicote I, Arqués O, Landolfi S, Fernández Y, Herance JR, Gispert JD, Mendizabal L, Aguilar S, Ramón y Cajal S, Schwartz Jr S, Vivancos A, Espín E, Rojas S, Baselga J, Tabernero J, Muñoz A, Palmer HG. “b-catenin confers resistance to PI3K and AKT inhibitors and subverts FOXO3a to promote metastasis in colon cancer”. Nat Med. 2012. 18(6):892-901. doi: 10.1038/nm.2772. PMID: 22610277.  (*These authors contributed equally)
• Puig I, Champeval D, De Santa Barbara P, Jaubert F, Lyonnet S, Larue L. “Deletion of Pten in the mouse enteric nervous system induces ganglioneuromatosis and mimicks intestinal pseudoobstruction”. J Clin Invest. 2009. 119(12):3586-96. doi: 10.1172/JCI39929. PMID: 19884655.
• Julien S*, Puig I*, Caretti E, Bonaventure J, Nelles L, van Roy F, Dargemont C, Garcia de Herreros A, Bellacosa A, Larue L. “Activation of NFkappaB by AKT upregulates Snail expression and induces epithelium mesenchyme transition”. Oncogene. 2007. 26(53):7445-56. doi: 10.1038/sj.onc.1210546. PMID: 17563753. (*These authors contributed equally)
• Barberà MJ*, Puig I*, Domínguez D*, Julien-Grille S, Guaita-Esteruelas S, Peiró S, Baulida J, Francí C, Dedhar S, Larue L, García de Herreros A. “Regulation of Snail transcription during epithelial to mesenchymal transition of tumor cells”. Oncogene. 2004. 23(44):7345-54. doi: 10.1038/sj.onc.1207990. PMID: 15286702. (*These authors contributed equally)
• Palmer HG, Larriba MJ, García JM, Ordóñez-Morán P, Peña C, Peiró S, Puig I, Rodríguez R, de la Fuente R, Bernard A, Pollán M, Bonilla F, Gamallo C, García de Herreros A, Muñoz A. “The transcription factor Snail represses vitamin D receptor expression and responsiveness in human colon cancer”. Nat Med. 2004. 10(9):917-9. doi: 10.1038/nm1095. PMID: 15322538.

Capítulos de libros:

• Puig I, Chicote I, Palmer HG. “Identifying Cell Differentiation in colorectal cancer”. Methods Mol Biol. 2023. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3076-1_17. PMID: 37310635.
• Puig I, Palmer HG. “A label retaining system to capture slow-cycling cancer cells”. Methods Mol Biol. 2022. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2513-2_7. PMID: 35867224.