Prof. Magdalena Król is a laureate of the ERC grant

Professor Magdalena Król, head of the Independent Cancer Biology Laboratory of the Institute of Biology, received the prestigious Proof of Concept European Research Council grant. (ERC) Grants, as part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, are awarded by the European Council on Research to test the commercial or social potential of research results.

The ERC consists of the top 20 representatives of the scientific community, acting independently of political and national interests, making up the Scientific Council and the Executive Agency ( European Research Council Executive Agency – ERCEA ). The ERC awards grants for ground-breaking research in various scientific fields conducted in the European Union and associated countries. Research must be cognitive, pioneering, and go beyond the current boundaries of knowledge. Interdisciplinary research and research leading to important discoveries and breakthrough results are highly valued projects.

In the team of Prof. Król is conducting research under the ERC Starting Grant “Entrapment of Hypoxic Cancer by Macrophages Loaded with HAP”. The main goal of the research is to develop an innovative cell therapy for solid tumors by using cells of the immune system loaded with a protein cage in a complex with an anti-cancer substance. The cells of the immune system carry the protein cage with the drug to the tumor site, which is expected to kill the cancer cells. The currently awarded ERC Proof of Concept grant is to expand the project with additional research to show that the technology being developed works at the stage of preclinical research. Human tumors will be treated in mice using cell therapy. The project involves the treatment of human cancer cells or taking tumor biopsies from patients and implanting them into mice.

The cell therapy project was recognized in 2018 by the ERC as one of the top 10 research projects in the last 10 years.

More information about the research work carried out by Prof. Magdalena Król and her team can be found on the website Independent Cancer Biology Laboratory .

Prof. Congratulations to the King and the whole team, we wish you fruitful research and further successes!