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Eduard Batlle receives an ERC Advanced Grant

By 26 de September de 2013November 18th, 2020No Comments
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Eduard Batlle leads the Colorectal Cancer Laboratory (Photo: IRB)
 26.09.2013

Eduard Batlle receives an ERC Advanced Grant

Beneficiary of an ERC (the European Research Council) Starting Grant until this year, Eduard Batlle (Barcelona, 1970) has now gained an ERC Advanced Grant, also awarded by the same agency, the largest pan-European funding organisation for pioneering basic research. Eduard Batlle is the coordinator of the Oncology Programme and head of the Colorectal Cancer Lab at IRB Barcelona, located at the Parc Científic de Barcelona. This is the fourth ERC Advanced Grant awarded to IRB researchers


Entitled “EditCRC”, the new European Project headed by Dr. Batlle will address the cells that trigger colon tumours. Cancer is a combination of various kinds of malignant cells that differ in their function and capacity. This theory is particularly valid for colorectal cancer. In the various types of human colon cancer, several studies, some by Batlle’s lab, have identified a set of cells with the unique capacity to propagate the disease. These cells are called founding tumour cells or tumour stem cells. This cell population would be responsible for tumour growth and its reappearance in the form of metastasis to other organs after surgery. By means of new approaches for genetic analysis, Batlle and his team will study the behaviour of the specific set of human colon cancer cells, with the aim to determine their function during tumour growth and metastasis.

Funded with a maximum of 3.5 million euros over five years, Advanced Grants are the most competitive in European with regard to funding allotted and the number of projects presented. In this sixth call for Advanced Grants, the ERC has received 2,400 project proposals, of which 284 (11.8%) are to be awarded funding.

Only thirty of the eighty scientists who had finished their ERC Starting Grant and applied for an Advanced Grant in this call have passed the evaluations satisfactorily.