• Find people
• Intranet

News

09/07/2026 - Institutional news

ORFeus, boosting research into the dark proteome

The Hospital del Mar Research Institute (HMRIB) is participating in this European project, which aims to advance knowledge of the functions of the proteins that make up the so-called dark proteome. Led by the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in the Netherlands, it will train fifteen PhD students, who will focus their research on this field.

The European ORFeus programme aims to boost research into the field of the dark proteome, a group of proteins whose existence was unknown until recently. It will do so by providing training to fifteen PhD students, who will focus their research on this field. Hospital del Mar Research Institute (HMRIB) is the only institution in Spain participating in the project, through the research group led by Dr Mar Albà, ICREA Research Professor and Director of the Biomedical Informatics Research Programme at HMRIB, which will host one of the researchers.

Cancer cell expressing microprotein (colored in red)

The dark proteome regulates processes in tumour cells and other diseases and may play an important role in the development of new treatments, such as immunotherapy. With fifteen PhD candidates dedicated to studying this previously unknown group of proteins, the project is expected to achieve an increasingly deeper understanding of this research field and its potential applications in new therapies.

The researchers will work in fifteen research groups across different European countries. In addition to their research activities, the PhD candidates will follow a joint training programme. They will receive both scientific and professional training and will undertake placements in participating companies. This will allow the most promising discoveries to be translated more rapidly into clinical practice. Collaboration is a central element of the programme.

The ORFeus programme will begin in October with the recruitment of students and will run for four years. It is coordinated by the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in the Netherlands and involves 26 international partners. ORFeus is funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Actions, grant agreement No. 101309891.

More news