Press Release
Prestigious European Grant Awarded to Luxembourg Cancer Researcher
Substantial five-year grant strengthens the Translational Cancer Immunogenomics group at the Luxembourg Institute of Health
The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) has awarded a highly competitive Installation Grant worth EUR 250,000 to Dr Ángel Álvarez-Prado, Group Leader of the Translational Cancer Immunogenomics (TCI) group of the Department of Cancer Research at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH). The award recognises scientific excellence and supports the establishment and development of independent research groups throughout Europe.
The EMBO Installation Grant provides EUR 50,000 per year over five years, amounting to a total of EUR 250,000. Within the annual funding, EUR 35,000 is co-financed by the Luxembourg Ministry of Research and Higher Education (MESR), underlining Luxembourg’s strategic commitment to fostering internationally competitive biomedical research.
Dr Álvarez-Prado joined the LIH in January 2025, where he leads the Translational Cancer Immunogenomics group. His research combines cancer biology, immunology and genomics, and has a strong translational focus. The TCI group investigates how genetic alterations in cancer cells shape the immune microenvironment of tumours, and how these interactions influence disease progression and response to immunotherapy. A particular emphasis is placed on primary and metastatic brain tumours, including glioblastoma and brain metastases originating from breast, lung and skin cancers.
The EMBO Installation Grant will provide critical support to consolidate and expand this research programme. The funding will enable the development of advanced experimental models, the integration of multi-omics approaches, and the strengthening of international collaborations. Ultimately, the work aims to identify new therapeutic vulnerabilities and inform more effective, personalised immunotherapy strategies for patients with aggressive brain cancers.
In addition to the financial support, the grant will also allow Dr Álvarez-Prado’s to join the EMBO Young Investigator Programme. This appointment offers access to EMBO’s extensive scientific infrastructure, targeted training opportunities, and participation in a highly selective network of leading early-career researchers. Membership is designed to accelerate scientific independence, promote collaboration, and enhance the international visibility of participating laboratories.
We are very grateful to EMBO for their support. Receiving the Installation Grant is an honor and an important milestone for our lab. This grant comes at a crucial time as we continue to develop our research program at the LIH. It will enable us to explore the intricate relationship between cancer and immune cells in the brain while connecting us to a network of scientific excellence,
said Dr Álvarez-Prado.
The award further strengthens the position of the LIH as a hub for innovative cancer research and reflects the institute’s broader mission to translate fundamental discoveries into clinical impact. By combining national investment via the MESR with competitive European funding, Luxembourg continues to attract top international talent and to support research with the potential to address major unmet medical needs.
About the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH)
The Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) is a public biomedical research organization focused on precision health and invested in becoming a leading reference in Europe for the translation of scientific excellence into meaningful benefits for patients.
LIH places the patient at the heart of all its activities, driven by a collective obligation towards society to use knowledge and technology arising from research on patient derived data to have a direct impact on people’s health. Its dedicated teams of multidisciplinary researchers strive for excellence, generating relevant knowledge linked to immune related diseases and cancer.
The institute embraces collaborations, disruptive technology and process innovation as unique opportunities to improve the application of diagnostics and therapeutics with the long-term goal of preventing disease.