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04/03/2025 - Institutional news

Three proposals from researchers at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute selected for funding under the European Union’s Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions

This is the first time that three postdoctoral fellowships from the institute have been selected.

The Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships, part of the European Union's Horizon Europe initiative, have selected three proposals from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute for funding in the current call. The aim of these postdoctoral fellowships is to enhance the skills of the selected researchers. The selected projects focus on the fields of oncology, neuroscience, and epidemiology & public health. This is the first time the institute has secured three projects in a single call for these fellowships.

The IMMUNOPREVENT project (Leveraging the immune system for breast cancer prevention), led by Rosa Pascual under the supervision of Dr. Toni Celià-Terrassa, will analyze how aberrant precursor cells of breast cancer evade immune system surveillance. The goal is to improve preventive strategies for women at high risk of developing this disease. The study will investigate the potential protective role of the LCOR factor in these patients using mouse models.

Rosa Pascual

The Social Learn project (Investigating the brain substrates underlying higher-order social learning), presented by Irene Ayuso under the supervision of Dr. Arnau Busquets, will explore the neural mechanisms underlying higher-order conditioning using social cues such as facial expressions or body language. Specifically, it will focus on the role of two brain areas: the hippocampus and the basolateral amygdala. The project aims to deepen our understanding of how social experiences shape behavior and provide insights into similar experiences in psychosis.

Irene Ayuso

Finally, the project led by Álvaro Hernáez, under the supervision of Dr. Jaume Marrugat, will examine the role of interactions between polygenic risk scores (PRS)-which estimate an individual's genetic predisposition to a disease-and lifestyle factors. The LIGHT project (LIfestyle-Genotype Holistic inTeractions on mortality) will use data from the CORDELIA cohort to establish new protocols for studying the relationship between genetics and lifestyle, contributing to public health strategies and educational materials.

Álvaro Hernáez

The Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships provide two years of funding, covering both the researcher's work and research & training expenses. Their goal is to strengthen the training that the researcher will receive under the guidance of their mentor. The success of the Hospital del Mar Research Institute in this edition has been supported by the work of the Research Grants and Contracts Office at HMRIB, through the contribution of its Proposal Developer, Dr. Chris George.

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