FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE RECERCA BIOMEDICA (IRB BARCELONA)

Their core work

IRB Barcelona is a leading biomedical research institute focused on understanding cancer biology — particularly metastasis, tumor evolution, and drug resistance — and translating that understanding into therapeutic strategies. They combine computational biology and structural genomics with wet-lab cancer research, running major programs in colorectal cancer, non-coding cancer drivers, and the role of diet in metastasis. The institute also operates as a training hub for early-career biomedical researchers through COFUND doctoral and postdoctoral programs, and contributes to European bioinformatics and HPC infrastructure for life sciences.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2018), IRB Barcelona had a broad profile spanning bioinformatics infrastructure (ELIXIR-EXCELERATE, MedBioinformatics), nanotechnology-adjacent training (PROBIST/PREBIST), and foundational cancer biology (CELLPLASTICITY, NONCODRIVERS). From 2018 onward, the institute sharpened its focus decisively toward cancer metastasis, with flagship ERC grants like LIPOMET (dietary influences on metastasis, €2.4M) and residualCRC (residual disease in colorectal cancer, €2.5M), alongside growing involvement in exascale HPC for drug discovery through BioExcel-2. The trend is a clear convergence from diverse computational and basic biology into translational cancer research with a metastasis specialization.

IRB Barcelona is concentrating its research firepower on understanding and treating cancer metastasis, combining computational drug discovery with experimental tumor biology — expect future projects at this intersection.

How they like to work

IRB Barcelona is predominantly a project leader: they coordinated 22 of 37 H2020 projects, including all their largest grants (ERC-ADG, ERC-COG, ERC-POC). This signals strong PI-driven research with the institutional capacity to manage EU grants independently. With 165 unique consortium partners across 28 countries, they function as a well-connected hub rather than a captive partner of any single network, though their participation projects show they also join large infrastructure consortia (ELIXIR, BioExcel) when the fit is right.

IRB Barcelona has collaborated with 165 unique partners across 28 countries, giving them one of the broader networks among Spanish biomedical institutes. Their partnerships span from large pan-European infrastructure projects (ELIXIR, BioExcel) to focused cancer research consortia, with strong ties across Western Europe.

What sets them apart

IRB Barcelona stands out for combining deep computational biology expertise (structural genomics, HPC-scale molecular simulations, bioinformatics) with world-class experimental cancer research — particularly in metastasis. Few institutes can run both a computational drug fragment screen and validate hits in tumor organoid models under one roof. Their six ERC grants (3 Advanced, 3 Consolidator) in cancer biology signal exceptional individual scientific talent, making them a high-credibility partner for ambitious cancer-focused consortia.

Highlights from their portfolio

• residualCRC
  Their largest grant (€2.5M ERC Advanced), targeting the critical clinical problem of residual disease and relapse in colorectal cancer using tumor organoid models.
• LIPOMET
  ERC Advanced Grant (€2.4M) investigating how dietary fatty acids drive metastasis — a distinctive research angle linking nutrition to cancer spread with direct translational potential.
• NONCODRIVERS
  Long-running ERC project (2016–2023) tackling the frontier problem of non-coding cancer driver mutations, bridging computational genomics with targeted drug development.