The 13th edition of an academic ceremony to award postdoctoral research grants for colon cancer was hosted by the Olga Torres Foundation on April 19, 2018, at the Parc Taulí Auditorium in Sabadell.

The event was supported and held in collaboration with the Corporació Sanitària Parc Taulí, the Parc Taulí Foundation, and the Academy of Medical and Health Sciences of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.

Two €60,000 prizes were awarded this year to help fund the jury’s picks for best projects in the categories of Established Researchers and Emerging Researchers.

The grant in the Established Researchers category was awarded to Dr. Manel Esteller for “Bioinformatic prediction of chemosensitive profiles in colorectal cancer using Epigenomics” a project that will be undertaken at the Bellvitge Institute of Biomedical Research (IDIBELL) in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

The grant in the Emerging Researchers category was awarded to Dr. Rodrigo de Almeida Toledo for the project “Evaluation of clonal evolution and changes in molecular dynamics evolution of colorectal cancers in patient’s blood” cancer in patient’s blood”, which will be conducted at the Vall d’Hebron Oncology Research Institute VHIO in Barcelona

Both researchers gave a demonstration of their award-winning projects.

Dr. Josep M. Montané then introduced Dr. Manel Esteller, Head of the Epigenetics and Cancer Biology Program at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), to deliver the keynote speech, which focused on the topic “Colon Epigenetics and Cancer: “Colon Epigenetics and Cancer: From Knowledge to Application”

These were followed by speeches by Dr. Eugeni Saigí representative from the Academy of Medical Sciences, and Mr Josep Bombardó, President of the FOT, with Mr. Maties Serracant.

Mayor of Sabadell, giving the closing speech.