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ICREA researcher Xavier Salvatella. Image / IRB Barcelona.
 11.06.2024

Dr. Xavier Salvatella receives the Manuel Rico-Bruker Prize

The Spanish Biophysics Society (Sociedad de Biofísica de España, SBE) has awarded Dr. Xavier Salvatella, ICREA researcher and head of the Laboratory of Molecular Physics at IRB Barcelona,  the 2024 Manuel Rico-Bruker Prize for his contributions to understanding the conformations and biological activities of intrinsically disordered regions in multidomain proteins. 

Dr. Salvatella’s work studies the intrinsically disordered domains in proteins of biomedical relevance such as the androgen receptor, a nuclear hormone receptor, and CPEB4, a translation regulator. His research explores the roles of these domains in cancer, as well as neuromuscular and neurodevelopmental diseases.

In addition, he is interested in developing drug-like small molecules as potential therapeutics targeting intrinsically disordered proteins. This line of research led to his recent co-founding of the IRB Barcelona spin-off Nuage Therapeutics, a biotechnology company specialising in drug discovery for cancer treatment, based in the Barcelona Science Park.

“I was very pleased to receive this award, on behalf of my team, because it is named after Manolo Rico, a scientist with whom I had great discussions back in the day,“ Dr. Salvatella commented.

The Manuel Rico-Bruker Prize was presented at European South Atlantic Biophysics Congress (ESAB2024), which was held in San Sebastián between 5 & 7 June.

» More information: IRB Barcelona website [+]