Manuel Serrano

Manuel Serrano is a Research Professor at the Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) and serves as Program Chair and Group Leader at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) in Barcelona, Spain. He is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in tumor suppression, cellular senescence, aging, and cellular reprogramming.

He earned his PhD from the University of Madrid (UAM) in 1991. From 1991 to 1996, he conducted postdoctoral research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory under David Beach, where he discovered the p16 gene, a key tumor suppressor and inducer of senescence. In 1997, he returned to Spain to lead research groups at the National Center of Biotechnology (CNB) and later at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) from 2003 to 2017. In 2017, he moved to IRB Barcelona.

His research interests include:

• Tumor suppressors – mechanisms and therapeutic implications
• Cellular senescence – its role in aging and cancer
• Cellular reprogramming – in vivo reprogramming for tissue regeneration
• Aging – molecular pathways and interventions
• Fibrotic diseases – lung, kidney, and heart fibrosis

His lab pioneered the generation of genetically modified mice resistant to cancer and damage, and was the first to demonstrate in vivo cellular reprogramming into pluripotency within tissues, recognized as the Advance of the Year 2013 by Nature Medicine.

Scientific Awards:

• Léopold Griffuel Award (2020)
• ERC Proof of Concept (2020)
• Severo Ochoa Award (2018)
• ERC Advanced Grants (2008, 2014)
• EMBO Membership (2000)
• Multiple national and international honors

Grants & Recognition: Serrano has secured multiple ERC grants and national awards. His work is supported by top-tier funding bodies and has led to over 37,000 citations and an H-index of 75.

Labs & Teams: He leads the Serrano Lab at IRB Barcelona, focusing on translational applications of senescence and reprogramming in degenerative diseases and cancer therapy.