Maite Huarte, a researcher at the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) of the University of Navarra, has received a Starting Grant from the European Research Council. The award, with 1.5 million Euros in funds, is one of the most prestigious EU grants in the scientific area. It rewards innovative ideas and the curricula of young scientists and assesses the availability of the technological resources of the center for the launch of an independent line of research. "Financially it is a very important award, particularly from a scientific perspective, as it permits the launch of an ambitious project which would be impossible without this kind of funding", Dr Huarte explained.

The research project which has been set up in CIMA studies a new class of genes that control tumoral cells. "Large Noncoding RNAs are genes that do not codify proteins, so until recently they were not considered to play any role. Thanks to the new genomic techniques they have been shown to regulate very important cellular processes which are altered in cancer. However, their actions are unidentified. The project I have proposed focuses on understanding how these genes work in cancer calls. If we add this new element to the composition map of a tumoral cell, we will be able to design more effective therapies for this disease".