The Research Institute of the Sant Pau Hospital (IR-Sant Pau) in Barcelona has recruited the Catalan scientist Manel Esteller, an expert in cancer epigenetics. His inclusion in the scientific arm of the Catalan hospital comes a few weeks after his departure from the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute was made public, where he had held the position of director of the center until June 2024, when he was removed from his command post – he remained dedicated only to scientific research – pending the conclusion of an internal investigation launched in the context of a personal conflict between him and the director of the center. As announced by IR-Sant Pau, Esteller now joins its ranks to “promote research in applied epigenetics, personalized medicine and translational oncology”.
Esteller is one of the most cited Catalan scientists and a point of reference in the field of epigenetics, a discipline that studies the processes that regulate the expression of genes (without altering the DNA sequence) and that influence the development of cancer and other diseases. IR-Sant Pau announced that the researcher will join to lead a new research group in this field. “His leadership and experience in creating international networks will help attract competitive funding and high-level researchers, consolidating the center as a European point of reference in biomedical research,” the scientific institute said in a statement.
Esteller’s signing comes just weeks after the scientist permanently ended his stint at the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute, where he served as director from 2019 until just over a year ago. In June 2024, the scientist was removed from management while an internal audit over alleged irregularities was resolved.
Prior to his time at the Josep Carreras Institute, Esteller spent two decades leading the Epigenetics and Cancer Biology (PEBC) Program at the Bellvitge Research Institute (Idibell). The scientist is also a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia and has received numerous awards, such as the Jaume I Prize for basic research (2013) or the National Research Prize of Catalonia (2015).
