On February 15, coinciding with International Childhood Cancer Day, the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) held a ceremony to award 60 grants, which were awarded throughout the year 2023, to scientists who are developing their projects within the Community of Madrid.
Two IIBM researchers were distinguished with these grants: Dr. Natalia Sanz and the student Jesús Adrián López.
Dr. Natalia Sanz was the beneficiary of the prestigious "AECC Postdoctoral Grant" for a value of 160,000 euros to research on: "New diagnostic strategies for aggressive head and neck cancer with high genomic instability", within the research group Cell Cycle and Cancer Biomarkers led by Dr. Guillermo de Cárcer.
Dr. Natalia Sanz was the recipient of the prestigious "AECC Postdoctoral Grant" worth 160,000 euros to research on: "New diagnostic strategies for aggressive head and neck cancer with high genomic instability", within the Cell Cycle and Cancer Biomarkers research group led by Dr. Guillermo de Cárcer.
Jesús Adrián López, a student of the Nursing Degree at the UAM, received a grant from the Program "Prácticas Laboratorio AECC Verano AECC 2023". Jesús was working last summer in the research group: MicroRNAs in Immune Tolerance, Autoimmunity and Cancer under the direction of Dr. Alicia González-Martín in the project: "Harnessing our cytotoxic T cells to attack and destroy cancer”.
In addition to the grant award ceremony, two discussion panels were held with the participation of several researchers. The first one was focused on childhood cancer. The second one, moderated by Dr. Guillermo de Cárcer, who collaborates assiduously with the Association and is also a "volunteer for science", brought together four researchers who received grants to talk about their respective projects.
The AECC has several objectives: to promote the talent of both young and less young researchers and to offer professional stability; to encourage research in the clinical setting; and to facilitate the participation of Spanish researchers in international consortia.
The AECC faces two challenges in the coming years: to increase the average survival rate of people with cancer to 70% by 2030, and to promote research into rare cancers.
