SALVADOR AZNAR WINS THE 2013 METASTASIS RESEARCH PRIZE
The Beug Foundation announced CRG group leader Salvador Aznar-Benitah as 2013 winner of the Metastasis Research Prize. The Prize is meant to facilitate the implementation of novel, original approaches to combat cancer metastasis. It is awarded to scientists that convincingly present an original project on cancer metastasis research.
Through this prize, the foundation offers a financial seed to obtain the first preliminary data and/or set up the collaborations that are required to convince funding institutions or pharma-industry to further support this project thereby bringing novel initiatives one step closer to the aim to combat cancer metastasis.
ICREA research professor and CRG group leader Salvador Aznar presented a project on squamous cell carcinoma metastasis. About his project, he outlined "The Beug Foundation Metastasis Prize will allow us to perform the initial functional and molecular characterization of a population of cells that we have recently identified which may constitute the cells that generate distant metastasis in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The studies conducted thanks to this prize will set the basis to determine whether modulating the activity of targets selected from our analyses could harbor future anti-metastatic therapeutic potential for patients with metastatic and incurable SCC.” 
The selection committee highlighted his project for being "highly original, innovative and scientifically exciting". They also recognized his excellent expertise to successfully conduct this research project, which will be used for pillar experiments to prepare a large grant application.
The Award ceremony will be on the Nature-CNIO Cancer Symposium "Frontiers in Tumor Heterogeneity and Plasticity" in Madrid on October 28, 2013.