The Joint Research Unit in Advanced Therapies in Oncology, established by Universitat Jaume I in Castelló, the Príncipe Felipe Research Centre (CIPF) in Valencia and the General University Hospital of Castelló, will collaborate on the MORPHEUS project, funded through a 2025 European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant awarded to researcher María Jesús Vicent, Head of the Therapeutic Polymers Laboratory at CIPF and Distinguished Researcher at Universitat Jaume I (UJI). The unit will also participate in the MITONano project, funded by the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC).
The UJI Oncology Surgery Research Group (GICO), led by Antonio Llueca and made up of clinicians and researchers specialising in oncology, will be responsible for collecting and processing clinical samples, including tumour tissue and liquid biopsies, from patients. These samples will be essential for developing and validating patient-derived organoid models in both projects. In MORPHEUS, the group will provide access to surgical specimens from patients with cholangiocarcinoma, while in MITONano it will coordinate the identification and validation of diagnostic biomarker panels, including miRNAs and CA-125, in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis to enable more accurate and personalised treatment monitoring.
The European MORPHEUS project (Mechano-metabOlic Responsive nanoPlatform for HeterogEnous tumor Suppression) aims to develop a new generation of intelligent nanomedicines capable of "reading" the physical and metabolic characteristics of individual tumours and delivering treatment in a precise, sequential manner. The project focuses on solid tumours that are resistant to current therapies, beginning with cholangiocarcinoma, an aggressive and difficult-to-treat bile duct cancer. Its long-term goal is to establish a therapeutic strategy that can be applied to other cancers characterised by dense, rigid tumour environments, such as pancreatic cancer.
"Every patient and every tumour is different. Our goal is to develop intelligent platforms capable of responding to the specific characteristics of each tumour. If we can understand and harness this complexity, we can move towards more precise and effective therapies", explains María Jesús Vicent. "We want to explore a new generation of nanomedicines capable of dynamically adapting to tumour heterogeneity, one of the greatest challenges in oncology today. This will allow us to investigate radically innovative concepts that could open up new avenues for cancer treatment".
The ERC Advanced Grant recognises María Jesús Vicent's scientific excellence and international career in the development of advanced materials and nanomedicines for biomedical applications. Her research focuses on designing smart materials capable of delivering therapies more precisely and effectively, contributing to new treatments for complex diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. In 2025, she received the Rey Jaume I Award for New Technologies in recognition of her pioneering contributions to cancer nanomedicine, one of Spain's most prestigious scientific honours.
In the 2025 call, the ERC funded 319 projects from more than 3,300 applications, representing a success rate of less than 10%. María Jesús Vicent's proposal was selected within the Products and Process Engineering panel, under the Materials Engineering domain, a strategic field combining materials engineering, nanotechnology and biomedical applications to address major healthcare challenges.
This European funding reinforces the Príncipe Felipe Research Centre's commitment to scientific excellence and innovative research aimed at improving health and quality of life. "This award once again places CIPF among Europe's leading research centres and demonstrates our ability to lead internationally impactful research", said CIPF Director Deborah Burks.
MITONano: targeting the energy source of advanced ovarian cancer
The MITONano project, also led by María Jesús Vicent, has secured almost €400,000 to develop a new generation of treatments for advanced ovarian cancer that has spread throughout the abdomen, a condition known as peritoneal carcinomatosis. This disease poses a major clinical challenge because many tumour cells develop resistance to conventional chemotherapy.
MITONano proposes an innovative nanomedicine-based approach that specifically targets mitochondria, the energy-producing structures within tumour cells. By disrupting this energy supply, the treatment aims to inhibit tumour growth and survival while sparing healthy cells. These nanomedicines incorporate active compounds that act directly on mitochondria, making it possible to treat even the most chemotherapy-resistant forms of ovarian cancer. The project will also evaluate tools to identify which patients are most likely to benefit from this personalised therapy.
In addition, MITONano will promote the development of non-invasive biomarkers detectable through liquid biopsy (blood testing), enabling more accurate disease monitoring and earlier detection of potential relapse.
The project is being carried out at the Príncipe Felipe Research Centre in collaboration with the UJI–CIPF Joint Research Unit in Translational Oncology and the General University Hospital of Castelló. Its aim is to improve the precision and personalisation of treatment, ultimately increasing survival rates and quality of life for patients with advanced ovarian cancer who currently have few effective therapeutic options.