Manel Esteller (Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 1968) graduated in Medicine with Honours from the Universitat de Barcelona in 1992, where he also obtained his PhD degree in molecular genetics in 1996. He was an Invited Researcher at the School of Biological and Medical Sciences at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland, UK). From 1997 to 2001, He was a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University and School of Medicine (Baltimore, USA) where he established promoter hypermethylation of tumour suppressor genes as a hallmark of all human tumours. From Oct. 2001 to Sept. 2008 he was CNIO Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory’s leader. Since Oct. 2008 untill May 2019, he has been the Director of the Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program (PEBC), Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research. He is currently Director of the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC), Chairman of Genetics in the School of Medicine of the UB.

Research interests

-Definition of the Epigenome of Cancer Cells: Profile of DNA methylation and histone modifications in tumor suppressor genes and repetitive sequences in cancer. Global and gene-specific definition of aberrant epigenetic changes and functional consequences in transcription regulation, DNA repair and chromosome instability. -Study of the Epigenetics Machinery and Mechanisms: Role and function of DNA methyltransferases (enzymes that maintain DNA methylation), specificity of methyl-CpG binding domain proteins (the nuclear factors that recognize DNA methylation), analysis of biological properties of histone deacetylases and methyltransferases (enzymes that modify histones).

-Study of Mutations in the Epigenetic Machinery: The mechanisms underlying the disruption of the epigenetic landscape in transformed cells are unknown. -Study of the Epigenetic and Genetic Disruption of Non-Coding RNAs in Human Cancer. -Characterization of the Epitranscriptome in Human Diseases.