Dr. Álvaro Teijeira, scientist at research center Applied Medicine (CIMA) of the University of Navarra has received one of the 75 grants for national and international projects of research and innovation of excellence from the "la Caixa" Banking Foundation. The grant is part of the "la Caixa" Junior Leader Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. This line selects researchers of excellence and has the goal to promote high quality and innovative scientific careers in Spain.

"Thanks to the scholarship I will develop a project to study the interactions of immune system killer cells with malignant tumor cells. Specifically, we will generate cultured tumors (called organoids) from surgical material that will maintain the original tumor architecture and cellular heterogeneity. On our laboratory at CIMA we will visualize the interaction of immune system cells with tumor cells, and how immunotherapy drugs enhance these interactions within the organoids. With these systems model and with live mice we will investigate unknown mechanisms imposed by tumor cells to block an adequate infiltration of immune system killer cells, in order to identify new immunotherapeutic targets," explains Dr. Teijeira.

As immunotherapy is changing cancer treatment, the field of oncology needs new tools to identify effective targets and combinations for each patient. According to researcher of CIMA, "this project will develop tools that will be useful both for preclinical identification of new therapeutic targets and for the use of personalized medicine."

The ceremony of submission was presided over by Isidro Fainé, president of the "la Caixa" Banking Foundation; Jaume Giró, director general of the "la Caixa" Banking Foundation; Javier Solana, member of board of trustees and committee advisor of Experts in research of the "la Caixa" Banking Foundation, and Manuel Heitor, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher teaching of the Government of the Republic of Portugal.