FONDAZIONE PER L'ISTITUTO ONCOLOGICO DI RICERCA (IOR)

Their core work

IOR is a cancer research institute based in Bellinzona, Switzerland, focused on the biology of hematological malignancies and solid tumors. Their work sits at the intersection of molecular oncology, tumor immunology, and precision medicine — studying how cancer cells evolve, resist therapy, and evade the immune system. Researchers here host ERC-funded laboratories that translate fundamental discoveries about cellular senescence and clonal evolution into new targeted treatments. In practical terms, they generate the pre-clinical evidence that pharmaceutical companies and hospitals need to design smarter cancer therapies.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2016-2017 the institute's visible H2020 work centered on cancer cell senescence combined with tumor immunity — a mechanistic, pathway-level approach to solid tumor therapy. By 2018 the focus shifted toward hematological cancers, specifically chronic lymphocytic leukemia, with an emphasis on clonal evolution and drug resistance. The trajectory reflects a move from senescence-immunity biology toward patient-relevant questions of why targeted therapies stop working in blood cancers.

They are moving toward precision medicine questions in hematological oncology, especially understanding and overcoming resistance to targeted therapies — a direction highly relevant to pharma partners working on next-generation CLL and lymphoma drugs.

How they like to work

IOR's H2020 footprint is built on ERC Consolidator Grants, which are single-PI awards rather than consortium projects — so they appear as sole coordinator on both grants with no listed partners in this dataset. This is the signature of a research institute that hosts elite individual scientists rather than one that runs large multi-country consortia. Partners should expect deep scientific expertise from a specific lab rather than a ready-made European network.

In the H2020 data they have no recorded consortium partners because both projects are single-investigator ERC grants. Their collaborative reach exists through individual PI networks rather than formal project partnerships.

What sets them apart

IOR is one of a small number of Swiss research centers whose scientists have won two ERC Consolidator Grants in cancer biology in quick succession — a marker of internationally competitive PI talent rather than project-office scale. They offer deep mechanistic expertise in leukemia and senescence biology that is rare outside of major academic medical centers. Partners choose IOR when they need rigorous tumor biology, not when they need consortium coordination.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Immune-senescence
  EUR 2M ERC Consolidator Grant that links two usually separate cancer fields — cellular senescence and tumor immunity — into a combined therapeutic strategy.
• CLLCLONE
  EUR 1.94M ERC Consolidator Grant tackling one of the most clinically pressing questions in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: how clones evolve and escape targeted therapy.