Laura Soucek

Laura Soucek (born 1973) is an Italian scientist. She is a Group Leader at VHIO (the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology), Research Professor at ICREA, and CEO of Peptomyc S.L. She works on the Myc oncoprotein, the deregulation of which occurs during almost all cancers. Soucek has designed a dominant negative variant, Omomyc, which allows her to investigate the benefits of inhibiting Myc in cancer.

Early life and education Soucek was born in Velletri on the outskirts of Rome. She studied biology at the Sapienza University of Rome and graduated in 1996. During this time she started researching novel treatments for cancer. After earning her bachelor's degree, Soucek obtained a doctorate in genetics and molecular biology researching at the National Research Centre in Rome in 2001. That same year, she joined the University of California, San Francisco as a postdoctoral fellow. She was appointed as an Assistant Researcher in the laboratory of Gerard Evan in 2006. She returned to Europe in 2011, joining VHIO (Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology) as Principal Investigator of the Models of Cancer Therapies Laboratory. In 2015 she was made associate professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Her research considers the Myc oncoprotein, a protein that cancer cells appear to depend on, which had long been considered too difficult to target. She has demonstrated that inhibition of Myc can have a dramatic therapeutic index in mouse models of cancer, causing minimal side effects in normal proliferating tissues. Soucek created Omomyc, a dominant negative form of Myc that can inhibit the oncogene without causing adverse impacts. As Omomyc is tolerated by mice and has anti-tumour activity, Soucek has been developing an efficient and safe drug version of it. She featured in a FC Barcelona commercial to advertise the 2019/2020 season kit. The advert paid homage to people who have contributed to the community of Barcelona.

Selected publications Her publications include: