Núria López-Bigas, elected EMBO Member

Núria López-Bigas, ICREA Research Professor at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and leader of the Biomedical Genomics Lab, has been elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). Today EMBO announced the membership of 65 new outstanding life scientists—these joining a group of more than 1700 of the best researchers in Europe and around the world.

“Being elected EMBO member is a great honour for any scientist working in life sciences. I also consider that this membership strengthens my commitment to continuing research with the highest standards,” says Núria López-Bigas, awardee of an ERC Consolidator Grant this year.

Núria López-Bigas (born in Monistrol de Montserrat, Barcelona, ​​1975) fine tunes computational methods and performs experiments seeking to identify cancer driver genes. Her team comprises 14 members, including informatics engineers, biologists, mathematicians and physicians. The laboratory’s interests range from deciphering the basic biology of cancer to the development of useful tools for the diagnosis and personalised treatment of patients.

López-Bigas’s team also works in coordination with and forms a part of several international consortia devoted to the analysis and interpretation of genomic data collected from tumours.

“Election to the EMBO Membership is recognition of research excellence, and I am pleased to welcome so many great scientists to our organisation,” says EMBO Director Maria Leptin. She adds, “We received more nominations than ever before, which pays tribute to the strength and diversity of the European life sciences.”

Núria López-Bigas is among the 40% of women who have joined EMBO this year. The newly elected members have an average age of 50.8 and they reside in 21 countries.

Counting López-Bigas, the following IRB Barcelona group leaders are currently permanent members of this European institution: Ferran Azorín; Jordi Casanova; Cayetano González; Miquel Coll; Raúl Méndez; Manuel Serrano; and Angel. R. Nebreda. These members are actively involved in evaluating applications for EMBO funding and serve on the EMBO Council and on various committees.

Meet Núria López-Bigas: "Looking for a needle in a haystack" in the video series Meet Our Scientists

About IRB Barcelona

Created in 2005 by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia) and University of Barcelona, IRB Barcelona is a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence, a seal that was awarded in 2011. The institute is devoted to conducting research of excellence in biomedicine and to transferring results to clinical practice, thus improving people’s quality of life, while simultaneously promoting the training of outstanding researchers, technology transfer, and public communication of science. Its 25 laboratories and seven core facilities address basic questions in biology and are orientated to diseases such as cancer, metastasis, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and rare conditions. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 employees and 32 nationalities. It is located in the Barcelona Science Park. IRB Barcelona forms part of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) and the “Xarxa de Centres de Recerca de Catalunya” (CERCA).