ANNUAL REPORT 2016 ANNUAL REPORT 2016 CONTENTS FOREWORD 9 ORGANISATION OF RESEARCH 12 VICE-DIRECTION Molecular Oncology Programme 18 14 Tumour Suppression Group 20 OF BASIC RESEARCH Experimental Oncology Group 24 Telomeres and Telomerase Group 28 Cell Division and Cancer Group 32 Genomic Instability Group 36 Chromosome Dynamics Group 40 DNA Replication Group 44 Melanoma Group 48 Microenvironment & Metastasis Junior Group 52 Brain Metastasis Junior Group 54 Metabolism and Cell Signalling Junior Group 56 Cancer Cell Biology Programme 58 Genes, Development and Disease Group 60 Epithelial Carcinogenesis Group 64 Epithelial Cell Biology Junior Group 68 Growth Factors, Nutrients and Cancer Junior Group 70 Seve Ballesteros Foundation-CNIO Brain Tumour Junior Group 72 Structural Biology and Biocomputing Programme 74 Structural Computational Biology Group 76 Cell Signalling and Adhesion Junior Group 80 Structural Bases of Genome Integrity Junior Group 82 Spectroscopy and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Unit 84 Bioinformatics Unit 86 National Bioinformatics Institute Unit 88 Electron Microscopy Unit 90 Crystallography and Protein Engineering Unit 92 VICE-DIRECTION Human Cancer Genetics Programme 98 94 Human Genetics Group 100 OF TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH Hereditary Endocrine Cancer Group 104 Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Group 108 Familial Cancer Clinical Unit 112 Molecular Cytogenetics and Genome Editing Unit 114 Human Genotyping-CEGEN Unit 116 Clinical Research Programme 118 Gastrointestinal Cancer Clinical Research Unit 120 Breast Cancer Junior Clinical Research Unit 122 Prostate Cancer Junior Clinical Research Unit 124 Molecular Diagnostics Unit 126 H12O-CNIO Haematological Malignancies Clinical Research Unit 128 H12O-CNIO Lung Cancer Clinical Research Unit 130 Biobank 132 ANNUAL REPORT 2016 4 DIRECTION Biotechnology Programme 138 134 Genomics Core Unit 140 OF INNOVATION Transgenic Mice Core Unit 142 Monoclonal Antibodies Core Unit 144 Molecular Imaging Core Unit 146 Flow Cytometry Core Unit 148 Confocal Microscopy Core Unit 150 Proteomics Core Unit 152 Histopathology Core Unit 154 Animal Facility 156 Experimental Therapeutics Programme 158 Medicinal Chemistry Section 160 Biology Section 164 CNIO - Lilly Cell Signalling Therapies Section 168 CNIO - Lilly Epigenetics Section 170 Technology Transfer and Valorisation Office 172 Private Sponsors 174 COMMUNICATION 176 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 186 CNIO OFFICES 190 Dean’s Office 192 CNIO Women in Science Office 194 FACTS & FIGURES 196 Scientific Management 198 Competitive Funding 200 Education and Training Programmes 214 Scientific Events 220 Administration 234 Board of Trustees 234 Scientific Advisory Board 236 Management 238 CNIO Personnel 2016 240 CNIO FRIENDS 244 CNIO Friends 247 ‘ CNIO Friends’ Postdoctoral Contracts 248 Juegaterapia Foundation-‘ CNIO Friends ’ 249 CNIO opens its doors to ‘CNIO Friends’ 250 Benefactor Friends/Sponsor Friends 252 Donations to the CNIO 253 CREATIVE TEAM 254 SPANISH NATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH CENTRE, CNIO 5 ANNUAL REPORT 2016 6 “ Commercialisation and return on investment in research remain priorities. CNIO’s royalty income in 2016 is double that of 2012. A total of 44 inventors, about 10% of the researchers at CNIO, have contributed and benefited from this achievement.” MARIA A. BLASCO Director SPANISH NATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH CENTRE, CNIO 7 FOREWORD FOREWORD Maria A. Blasco Director This year, once again, the data on CNIO’s scientific performance illustrate that we are doing a superb job contributing towards scientific breakthroughs. During 2016, the CNIO authored a total of 239 papers, 28 of which were published in journals with impact factors ( IF ) ranging from 10 to 15, and 32 papers in journals with impact factors greater than 15. Comparison with previous years ( 2006-2016 ) indicates that CNIO has continued to increase the numbers of papers published in top journals with IF greater than 15. With the aim of upholding the CNIO’s strategy to remain an international Research Centre of Excellence and an influential institution in cancer research worldwide, 2016 saw the establishment of a CNIO Department of International Affairs. This new Department is headed by Carolina Pola who was the Editor of Nature Medicine for over seven years, as well as the former Director of Communications at Pharmamar, the most successful Spanish pharma company devoted to anti-tumour therapies. Since the creation of the Department of International Affairs, Carolina has redefined our international approach to embed the European concept of ‘ Responsible Research and Innovation ’ ( RRI ) in our institutional and research core. This new perspective, alongside several other efforts made by the Department, have resulted in several international collaborations that will bear fruit next year in the form of joint scientific symposiums to strengthen our research groups, as well as a plan to boost our recruitment of international talent. Our capacity to attract and retain scientific talent, providing new investigators with an interdisciplinary and multicultural environment, has become an integral part of our international agenda, which we will continue to nurture in the upcoming years. I am also happy to mention that we continue to attract new and talented young group leaders to the CNIO. After the incorporation, in 2015, of two Junior Groups working in metastasis ( led by Hector Peinado and Manuel Valiente ) in the Molecular Oncology Programme, we welcomed another new Junior Group to the Programme in 2016 : the Metabolism and Cell Signalling Group, led by Alejo Efeyan who joined the CNIO at the beginning of 2016 SPANISH NATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH CENTRE, CNIO 9 FOREWORD after a brilliant postdoc with David Sabatini at the Massachusetts one on ATR inhibitors, both are very close to reaching the clinical Institute of Technology ( MIT, Boston, USA ). testing stage. During 2016, we also completed the selection process to Commercialisation and return on investment in research remain incorporate two new Groups in the Structural Biology and priorities. Royalty income and milestone payments collected in Biocomputing Programme, with the aim of reinforcing lines 2016 raised more than 650 thousand euros. This includes revenues of research in structural biology at the CNIO. The two new from patent licences as well as from commercialisation of research Junior Group Leaders who will start at CNIO in 2017 are : Ivan tools such as monoclonal antibodies. Following CNIO’s policy Plaza Menacho, currently Senior Research associate at the of royalty revenue share, this income flows back to the CNIO’s Structural Biology Laboratory at the Biozentrum, Univesity of research activities as well as to the inventors themselves. A total Basel, Switzerland ; and Rafael Fernández Leiro, from the MRC of 44 inventors, about 10% of the researchers at CNIO, have Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK. contributed and benefited from this achievement. In 2016, we also created a new service unit at the CNIO : the Industrial partnerships remain key to achieve valorisation of Biological Text Mining Unit, which is focused on the application scientific knowledge. Valorisation is not just about ‘ money ’, but and development of biomedical text mining technologies that are also about the impact that can be created through successful becoming a key tool for the efficient exploitation of information alliances with industry. In such collaborations, both the CNIO contained in unstructured data repositories. This Unit is fully and its industrial counterpart are committed to working towards funded through the ‘ Plan de Impulso de las Tecnologías del a common goal and to jointly undertaking all the steps needed to Lenguaje de la Agenda Digital ( PITL )’, in the framework of conduct the research, as well as to identifying the best possible an agreement (‘ encomienda ’) between the Secretary of State protection and commercialisation of the results. In 2016, new of Telecommunications of the Spanish Ministry of Energy, contracts with industry secured future revenues for collaborative Tourism and Digital Agenda ( MINETAD ) and the CNIO. We research that amount to nearly 4 million euros, which represents also revised the organisation of the two Bioinformatics Units about 10 % of CNIO’s annual income. that were providing support and expertise to our investigators ; namely, the Bioinformatics Unit of the Structural Biology and The CNIO External Scientific Advisory Board ( SAB ), currently Biocomputing Programme, and the Translational Bioinformatics chaired by Mariann Bienz, is of utmost importance for guiding Unit of the Clinical Research Programme. Under a new single the strategic plans of the CNIO as well as for the review of our structure, the CNIO Bioinformatics Unit, headed by Fátima Al research groups. We would like to wholeheartedly thank our Shahrour, we have joined the efforts of both previous units in former SAB member Joan Massagué ( Memorial Sloan Kettering order to better serve the needs of the CNIO Research Groups Cancer Center, New York, USA ) for his committed dedication and to better coordinate and manage bioinformatics projects. to the CNIO SAB that lasted for over a decade ( 2003-2016 ). Joan Massagué, served as Chair of the CNIO SAB from 2011 to The valorisation of the research results generated by CNIO’s 2014, and as member for the remaining 9 years. During 2016, we scientists, with the aim of turning them into high-potential welcomed two new members to our SAB, namely Stephen Frye, diagnostic or therapeutic products