International prize for Pere as an emerging leader in science

IBEC junior group leader and UB assistant professor Pere Roca-Cusachs is one of ten finalists selected for the American Society for Cell Biology’s Gibco Emerging Leader Prize.

Supported by Thermo Fisher, the international prize recognises emerging leaders in science who are non-tenured faculty holding independent positions in the early phase of their career. Pere has been chosen as a finalist for his research uncovering the biophysical molecular mechanism by which cells sense tissue rigidity and transduce it into downstream signaling.

He is one of only three researchers from non-American institutions – UB/IBEC, Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research, and the Max Plank Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics – to be awarded this year.

The selection committee, which was chaired by ASCB member Sue Biggins of Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, said that they were particularly impressed with the quality of Pere’s independent research and his groundbreaking science.

The award ceremony will take place at the ASCB’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco on December 3rd.