Elías Campo had already received a “Synergy Grant” from the ERC in 2019, together with Iñaki Martín-Subero and CNAG researchers Holger Heyn and Ivo Gut, to explore the potential of new sequencing technologies to better understand the origin, evolution, and clinical behavior of this hematological disease (You can see the news by clicking here).
The ERC “Proof of Concept” program supports principal investigators who have already obtained previous support from the European Research Council to facilitate the validation and transfer of the results generated in funded projects. This grant offers up to 150,000 euros over a period of 18 months.
Previous studies by Campo’s team had observed that Richter transformation – an aggressive evolution of CLL – can be detected years before clinical manifestations. The study published in Nature Medicine described that the cells that cause the transformation can already be detected in very small quantities at the beginning of the disease.
The current project led by Campo aims to test and validate earlyRTdx, a new diagnostic solution based on single-cell analysis designed by Ferran Nadeu, a team member, capable of early detecting the first cells responsible for Richter transformation, before its expansion and clinical manifestation. This technology will integrate genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic information in a single assay capable of accurately differentiating the cells typical of CLL from those associated with aggressive transformation.
Overall, earlyRTdx aims to become the first in vitro diagnostic solution capable of Richter transformation early detection. Early identification could open the door to early intervention strategies to treat and eliminate these cells in their initial, potentially indolent and clinically harmless stages, before they evolve into an aggressive disease with a very poor prognosis.
In previous calls, other IDIBAPS researchers have also received “Proof of Concept” grants from the ERC. This is the case of Iñaki Martín-Subero, who is developing a new prognostic tool based on epigenetic memory, Marc Claret, who is studying the regulation of mitochondrial metabolism as a possible therapeutic target for obesity and aging, or Jaime de la Rocha, who is developing a behavioral training platform for mice.
