On November 24, the ISREC Foundation was presented a cheque amounting to CHF 100’000 by the Association Josy Marti – Echec au cancer de la Broye.
This association was founded in 1991 by Josy Marti, manager of the Café du Marché in Payerne, who meanwhile has unfortunately died of cancer.
Through this association, the ISREC Foundation has been the recipient of the amazing and loyal support of the Broye region for close to 25 years.
This expression of faith in the missions of the ISREC Foundation is an invaluable gesture in support of cancer research and advances and imparts energy to our projects.

Congratulations to Prof. Susan M. Gasser, scientific director of the ISREC Foundation, who was awarded an honorary doctorate title by the University of Fribourg during the Dies academicus 2021.
The Faculty of Science and Medicine of the University of Fribourg hereby honors this internationally renowned professor and epigeneticist for the excellence of her research and her unflagging leadership of the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel. This recognition also underlines her commitment to the promotion of women in science in Switzerland. Susan M. Gasser has been awarded numerous important distinctions, such as the Latsis Prize, the Otto Naegeli Prize and the INSERM International Prize. She is a pioneer in the promotion of women in science: in her former function as the president of the Swiss national Science Foundation’s Gender Committee, for example, she initiated the PRIMA program for the promotion of exceptional women in science, which allows young women to reconcile family and a scientific career.
The ISREC Foundation is proud to be able to count on Prof. Gasser’s scientific expertise.

Congratulations to Prof. Mikaël Pittet: his publication entitled “Tumor-Infiltrating Dendritic Cell States Are Conserved Across Solid Human Cancers” has been selected by the renowned Journal JEM Cancer Immunotherapy 2021 as one of the most relevant reference articles on immunotherapy published in the past 12 months.

Congratulations to Prof. Ping-Chih Ho (holder of the ISREC Foundation Translational Oncology Chair from 2015 to 2020) and his colleague Giusy Di Conza on their publication in the renowned journal Nature Immunology. Their study describes a strategy used by cancer cells to convert immune cells (tumor-destroying macrophages) into cells supporting their growth and survival.

Prof. Michael Hall has been a member of the ISREC Foundation’s Scientific Board since June 2016. He has recently been awarded the Prix Mondial Nessim Habif in recognition of his exceptional scientific career and his commitment to Geneva and the University of Geneva. His discoveries have profoundly changed our understanding of cell proliferation, a key process in cancer development as well as in other affections such as metabolic disorders and Alzheimer’s disease. His research has led to the discovery of entirely new and revolutionary drugs. The ISREC Foundation is proud to be able to count on this brilliant scientist’s expertise.

Congratulations to Prof. Denis Migliorini (holder of the ISREC Foundation Immuno-Oncology Chair) and his team for their publication in Human Gene Therapy. The article explains how to choose the appropriate genetic engineering tool for CAR-T cells.

Catherine Labouchère, president of the ISREC Foundation from 2016 to January 2021, was awarded this year’s medal of the University of Geneva. This well-deserved recognition underscores her extraordinary contribution to the defense of the Swiss scientific community, her unfailing support for the academic institutions between Geneva and Lausanne, as well as her commitment to the building of the AGORA cancer research cluster, which benefits the entire scientific community in the Lake of Geneva area.

Congratulations to Professor Mikaël Pittet, holder of the ISREC Foundation’s Immuno-Oncology Chair: his research, performed in collaboration with scientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has made it possible to explain why colorectal cancer is resistant to immunotherapies, and to put forward a new, potentially efficient therapeutic combination. The study of the composition of the immune cells present in liver metastases of colorectal cancer revealed the absence of dendritic cells in these tumors. The antitumoral properties of these immune cells are essential for the proper functioning of the immune system, and reinforcing the presence of these cells in the tumor may thus improve the efficiency of immunotherapies.

The ISREC Foundation built the AGORA cancer research cluster to promote an approach connecting bedside and laboratory. Today, the Foundation is proud to have seven of the world’s leading immunotherapy specialists working in its research center.

ISREC Foundation is launching a new call for research projects that bridge from clinic to bench.