Silvestre Vicent, a biologist at CIMA of the University of Navarra, has been awarded the 2006 American Society for Bone Research (ASBMR) Young Scholar Award award researcher . Elizabeth Shane, president of this institution that groups nearly 4,000 researchers and clinicians, presented him with the award in Philadelphia.

Dr. Vicent was the only Spaniard to receive an award in this edition. His work, selected from among nearly 1,800 submitted, consisted of the identification of a factor that induces the spread of lung cancer to the bone.

This complication is now incurable and causes pain, spinal cord compression and fractures that end patients' lives. There are no effective therapies to prevent or dampen this complication of cancer.

Dr. Vicent's work was carried out at the laboratory directed by Dr. Fernando Lecanda at the area of Oncology at CIMA. Currently, Dr. Vicent is a researcher at Stanford University (California), where he studies the mechanisms of development in lung cancer.