Elisa Motori Receives Plus 3 Grant for Research on Brain Metastases

The €900,000 grant, starting in 2027, supports outstanding early-career researchers on their path toward a tenured professorship.

Her project investigates how brain metastases reprogram neuronal metabolism. Brain metastases arising from cancers such as small cell lung cancer (SCLC), melanoma, and breast cancer remain among the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat forms of cancer. Recent studies have shown that tumor cells can establish functional synaptic connections with neurons and integrate into the brain’s electrical circuitry to promote tumor growth. However, little is known about how this interaction affects the neurons themselves and reshapes the metabolic environment of the brain.

Taking a novel perspective, Dr. Motori’s research shifts the focus from the tumor to the neuron, aiming to uncover how metastatic tumors exploit neural networks and alter neuronal function at the metabolic level.

Who is Elisa Motori? - Learn more about her Research.

 

About the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation
The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation is an independent, non-profit organisation committed to promoting basic research in the medical, biological, chemical and pharmaceutical sciences. Its Plus 3 programme provides sustained funding of up to €900,000 over three years to outstanding junior group leaders at German academic institutions, bridging the gap between a first independent position and a tenured professorship. Approximately 90% of Plus 3 recipients since 2010 have gone on to hold a professorship or permanent group leader position.

This message has been modified by the CMMC (K. Heber & D. Grosskopf-Kroiher) and is based on the text by the press and communications team of University of Cologne (original German version here).