Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne

EMBO elects Alvaro Rada Iglesias as EMBO Young Investigator 2017

25/10/2017

to further promote his research to uncover the transcriptional regulatory principles of mammalian embryogenesis and human congenital disease.

 

Alvaro Rada Iglesias - EMBO Young Investigator Awardee 2017. EMBO selected 28 young researchers as EMBO Young Investigators. The new Young Investigators are based in 11 different countries, including two European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC) Associate Member States, India and Singapore.

EMBO announces today the selection of 28 young researchers as EMBO Young Investigators. They join a network of 47 current and 417 past Young Investigators who represent some of the best up-and-coming group leaders in the life sciences in Europe and beyond. They join a network of 47 current and 417 past Young Investigators who represent some of the best up-and-coming group leaders in the life sciences in Europe and beyond.

“It is a pleasure to welcome these outstanding scientists to the EMBO community,” says EMBO Director Maria Leptin. “Between them, they carry out some of the most promising life science research that Europe has to offer, and we look forward to supporting them in their professional and scientific undertakings.”
For further information: EMBO welcomes 28 new Young Investigators (press release).

 “The EMBO Young Investigator Award 2017 recognizes the research efforts of my team and, importantly, gives us access to outstanding training, networking and collaborative opportunities within the EMBO community. Receiving the EMBO Young Investigator Award is a great honor for me”, comments Alvaro Rada-Iglesias.

The main interest of Rada Iglesias research is to uncover the genetic and epigenetic factors controlling the deployment of gene expression programs during vertebrate embryogenesis. Towards this goal, we are using a multidisciplinary approach that combines in vitro and in vivo models with biochemical, genomic and genetic engineering tools. "Inspired by our work on vertebrate embryogenesis, we are applying similar experimental approaches to uncover the molecular basis of human congenital diseases. More specifically, we are investigating how genetic variants and genomic re-arrangements can lead to human disease through the disruption of gene regulatory landscapes", Rada Iglesias comments: "Our major future aim is to investigate the pathological consequences of the disruption of transcriptionally regulatory networks".

Alvaro Rada-Iglesias, who started his independent scientific career at the CMMC as Junior Research Group Leader in May 2013, points out: “The CMMC Junior research Group Program supports funding over a five-year period with a substantial  budget for personeel with the possibility of an additional three years of funding in addition to the starting-package, full access to all necessary laboratory equipment and state-of-the-art facilities as well as invaluable administrative support. Together with third-party funding, this enabled me to build up a highly multidisciplinary team of highly motivated and hard-working scientists.

Furthermore, the CMMC along with its partner institutions such as CECAD Cologne, SFB 829, CCG and the Max-Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, all located within the same campus, offers a vibrant, dynamic and highly collaborative scientific community. This allowed my research team to easily interact and collaborate with a broad range of scientists, including stem cell biologists, mouse embryologists, experts in mouse transgenesis, human geneticists and physicians.

This represents a perfect environment to fulfil our ultimate goal of understanding the transcriptional regulatory principles of mammalian embryogenesis and human congenital disease. As a result, my laboratory has recently published several relevant publications, which have also allowed us to obtain numerous grants, fellowships and awards, as best illustrated by the recent EMBO Young Investigator Programme (EMBO YIP) award”.


Selected statistics about the EMBO Young Investigators 2017

  • the program received 224 eligible applications
  • with 12.5%, the application success rate was comparable to previous years
  • 36% of new Young Investigators are women
  • newly elected Young Investigators reside in 11 countries


Further information: The EMBO Young Investigator Program
Selection to the EMBO Young Investigator Programme is recognition of exceptional research and scientific potential. Through the program, EMBO identifies and supports some of the best researchers under 40 years of age who are in the process of establishing their own laboratory.

During their three-year tenure, EMBO Young Investigators receive a range of benefits, including an award of 15,000 euros and possible additional funds to support the establishment of their first independent laboratories.

Laboratory management and non-scientific skills training as well as PhD courses offer the young group leaders and their students the chance to develop professional skills. The scientists also receive access to core facilities at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, and funding for themselves and their group members to attend conferences.

The next application deadline is 1 April 2018. More information is available at http://www.embo.org/funding-awards/young-investigators