IRB Barcelona researcher Cristina Mayor-Ruiz signs one of the most promising advances in recent months in lung cancer research. A study developed jointly with the Cancer Research Center of Salamanca has shown that degrading the mutated KRAS protein, one of the most frequent genetic alterations in this type of tumor, causes marked tumor regression in preclinical models. The work, published in Cancer Research, opens a new therapeutic avenue in an area where resistance to treatments continues to be one of the main clinical challenges.
Trained at the CNIO in Madrid and later specialized in chemical biology at the CeMM in Vienna, Mayor-Ruiz has led her own research group in Barcelona since 2021. Her laboratory works on the development of new pharmacological strategies based on targeted protein degradation, one of the emerging areas with the most potential within precision oncology. Internationally recognized with grants such as an ERC Starting Grant, the scientist also represents a new generation of researchers who place Barcelona at the forefront of European biomedical innovation.