One of the areas of action of the FERO Foundation is to allocate resources to oncology research through FERO Grants. A series of grants aimed at young researchers with the objective of fostering young talent and accelerating oncology research in our country.
Currently, the number of young researchers who have been able to initiate their translational oncology research projects thanks to FERO Grants reaches 49 young people.
In today’s publication, we will tell you about the impact of these grants on the projects of two of our Feritas, Dr. Berta Casar Martínez and Dr. Laura Soucek. Keep reading and discover the impact of FERO Grants!
DR. LAURA SOUCEK WINNER OF THE III FERO GRANT
In May 2011, Dr. Soucek, head of the mouse antitumor therapy modeling group at Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), received the III FERO Grant endowed with €70,000 with which she was able to carry out her study “The inhibition of the Myc oncoprotein present in most tumors”.
With this grant she obtained the necessary tools to advance her laboratory and form a high-level research team that is bringing us a little closer to the end of cancer.
Thanks to the funding received, they were able to carry out key experiments for the development of what could be the first Myc inhibitor, known as “Omomyc.” Myc is a protein that coordinates all the programs that allow a cell to grow and divide and, as such, is involved in almost all types of cancer.
The studies carried out have demonstrated that Omomyc has a remarkable therapeutic index in all types of cancer tested (skin, lung, pancreatic, and, more recently, brain cancer) and that it does not cause any relevant or severe side effects in normal tissues.
A few years later, and as a result of this project, Dr. Soucek and her team have currently completed the first clinical trial with pancreatic cancer patients and regulatory entities have already approved a second phase of trials. The study is beginning to provide new therapeutic options and to impact patients, and in the future it is expected that the first myc inhibitor will become a reality.
In Dr. Soucek’s words:
“My laboratory started with FERO. When I arrived in Spain in 2011, my laboratory had no equipment, no reagents, no staff. That is a very difficult phase for a junior researcher. To immediately have the tools to be productive and apply for grants, and the FERO Foundation provided me with all the basic tools for my laboratory to start functioning effectively immediately. In addition, in 2011 I received the FERO Grant that allowed me to hire my first laboratory technician, Daniel Maso, who was such a successful technician that he decided to stay and do his doctorate. Again, thanks to the FERO Grant”.
DR. BERTA CASAR WINNER OF THE XXI FERO GRANT
In November 2021, Dr. Casar, researcher at the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria, received in Madrid the XXI FERO Grant endowed with €80,000 with which she was able to carry out her project “Development of a therapeutic response marker for metastatic melanoma”.
The project in question aimed to establish a new predictive biomarker of response to melanoma treatment. That is, to develop a new diagnostic kit capable of predicting the emergence of resistance to conventional melanoma treatments.
Today, two years later, the project results show the predictive value of this biomarker and will allow better stratification and personalized treatment of melanoma patients. It will be possible to identify tumors that are likely to respond to treatment and, consequently, patients will be able to benefit from more effective therapy according to their tumor and avoid unnecessary adverse effects.
In Dr. Casar’s words:
“Thanks to a FERO Grant, in my laboratory we have developed a new diagnostic kit predictive of response to melanoma treatment. Many patients treated with current drugs who have metastatic melanoma develop resistance to conventional therapies. Our new biomarker is capable of predicting response to these treatments, avoiding side effects in patients and saving healthcare resources for the system.”
Now, Dr. Casar and her team are working to continue developing this technology and bring it to market, so that the use of this diagnostic kit becomes widespread and benefits many patients.
Two great projects led by two great professionals in oncology research that would not have been possible without funding. Let us continue supporting the advancement of science to reach the end of cancer!
