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The recipient of this year’s IRB Barcelona Alumni Excellence Award is Dr. Markus Muttenthaler, former researcher in Dr. Fernando Albericio’s group at IRB Barcelona, and currently leads the Neuropeptide Research Lab at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland, Australia, and also at the University of Vienna.
Dr. Muttenthaler is a medicinal chemist working at the interface of chemistry and biology with a strong passion for translational research. His interests lie in neuropeptides and the exploration of nature's diversity (particularly venom peptides) to develop molecular tools, diagnostics and therapeutics.
His background in drug discovery and development and his interdisciplinary training in chemistry and pharmacology assist him in the characterisation of these highly potent and selective compounds and allow him to study their interactions with human physiology for medical innovations in neuropathic pain, breast cancer, autism, gastrointestinal disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.
According to the IRB Barcelona Alumni Award jury, formed by IRB Barcelona researchers and alumni, Dr. Muttenthaler has been selected as this year's awardee for his excellent contributions in the fields of neuropeptide research, synthetic chemistry and peptide drug development, as shown by his profile in terms of publication record, patents, invited talks, funding secured, and being the supervisor of two laboratories. Furthermore, the jury valued the fact that Dr. Muttenthaler has received ERC grants, and prestigious DECRA and ARC Future Fellow grants, among others.
The award event took place last Friday, 24 November 2023, at IRB Barcelona. Dr. Muttenthaler gave a plenary seminar entitled "Peptide Therapeutics for Gastrointestinal Disorders", in which he talked about how his research projects and career evolved since he was an IRB Barcelona researcher.
The IRB Barcelona Alumni Excellence Award, now in its 7th year and kindly sponsored by Eppendorf, is in recognition of Dr. Muttenthaler's outstanding contributions to science and the scientific community. Having completed a significant part of his training and career at IRB Barcelona, Dr. Muttenthaler is a distinguished alumnus whose work exemplifies the spirit of excellence we aim to foster within our community.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Markus Muttenthaler for this well-deserved recognition. We believe that his achievements not only reflect his dedication and passion for scientific exploration but also highlight the impact and value of IRB Barcelona's training.
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
