Eduard Batlle (Barcelona, 1970) obtained his BSc degree in Biology at the University of Barcelona and a PhD in Molecular Biology under the supervision of Antonio García de Herreros (IMIM, Barcelona). After his postdoctoral training in the laboratories of Miguel Beato (Marburg, Germany) and Hans Clevers (Utrecht, the Netherlands), he joined the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) as ICREA Research Professor and Head of the Oncology Program. His research activity has focused on the mechanisms that drive colorectal cancer initiation and progression.
Amongst other findings, his research originally identified the transcription factor Snail as a repressor of E-Cadherin gene expression during the Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (2000);
the first connection between intestinal stem cells and colorectal cancer (2002-2011); and more recently a key role for TGF-beta signaling in stromal cells during metastatic colonization (2012- 2015). His track record has been recognised through several awards/honours such as the Debiopharm Life Science Award (2006), an ERC starting Grant (2007), Banc de Sabadell Award for Biomedical Research (2010), Josef Steiner Cancer Research Award (2013), Drs. Diz-Pintado award (2013), an ERC Advanced Grant (2013) and the Pezcoller foundation-EACR award (2014).
Key publications (2011-2015)
1) CALON A, ET AL. AND BATLLE E. Stromal gene expression defines poor-prognosis subtypes in colorectal cancer. Nature Genetics. Apr; 47 (4):320-9. 2015.
2) WHISSELL, G. ET AL AND BATLLE, E. The transcription factor GATA6 enables self-renewal of colon adenoma stem cells by repressing BMP gene expression. Nature Cell Biology. 16: 695- 707. 2014.
3) OSKARSSON, BATLLE, E., MASSAGUÉ, J. Metastatic Stem Cells: Sources, Niches, and Vital Pathways. Cell Stem Cell. 14: 306-321. 2014
4) CALON, A., ET AL AND BATLLE, E.Dependency of Colorectal Cancer on a TGF-Beta-Driven Program in Stromal Cells for Metastasis Initiation.Cancer Cell. 2012; 22: 571–584. 2012.
5) JUNG, P., ET AL. AND BATLLE, E. Isolation and in vitro expansion of human colonic stem cells. Nature Medicine.17: 1125 -1127. 2011.
6) SOLANAS, G., CORTINA, C., BATLLE, E. Cleavage of E-cadherin by ADAM10 mediates epithelial cell sorting downstream of EphB signaling. Nature Cell Biology. 13(9): 1100-1107.
2011.
7) MERLOS-SUÁREZ, A., ET AL. AND BATLLE, E. The intestinal stem cell signature identifies colorectal cancer stem cells predicts disease relapse. Cell Stem Cell. 8(5): 511-524. 2011.
