Joan Font-Burgada Receives Alumni Award from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine Barcelona

Joan Font-Burgada, PhD

 

PHILADELPHIA (April 12, 2018) – Joan Font-Burgada, PhD, assistant professor in the Cancer Biology program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, was named the winner of the 2018 Alumni of Excellence Award from his alma mater, the Institute for Research in Biomedicine Barcelona (IRB Barcelona).

The award jury’s report recognizes Font-Burgada’s work in cancer, specifically his, “important contributions to understanding the development of cancer, in particular, why cancers evolve with mutations that are poorly immunogenic, and also for the identification of special hepatic reparative cells with low propensity to produce cancer.”

Font-Burgada received his PhD in the Cell and Development Biology program at IRB Barcelona in 2010. In 2017 he began his work at Fox Chase, where his lab focuses on cancer and regenerative medicine. Previously, he was the recipient of the prestigious National Cancer Institute Pathway to Independence Award, a grant which helps postdoctoral researchers complete training. He has also been awarded a Hertzberg-Schechter Prize for Stem Cell Research.

“It is an honor to be recognized for my research efforts by my alma mater. This award signifies the importance of the research done by myself and my team and I’m humbled to receive it,” said Font-Burgada.

This is the third year the award has been given. It includes a commemorative certificate, a monetary prize of 2,000 euros, and trip to IRB Barcelona to speak at the Barcelona Biomed seminar series.

Fox Chase Cancer Center (Fox Chase), which includes the Institute for Cancer Research and the American Oncologic Hospital and is a part of Temple Health, is one of the leading comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation’s first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase was also among the first institutions to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. Fox Chase is also one of just 10 members of the Alliance of Dedicated Cancer Centers. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are also routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center’s nursing program has received the Magnet recognition for excellence six consecutive times. Today, Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research, with special programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship, and community outreach. It is the policy of Fox Chase Cancer Center that there shall be no exclusion from, or participation in, and no one denied the benefits of, the delivery of quality medical care on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, disability, age, ancestry, color, national origin, physical ability, level of education, or source of payment.

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