He is a scientist of the highest international prestige for his cancer research, but Manel Esteller didn't do his work solely with the resources available to him. Since 2019, the researcher has been directing the Josep Carreras Research Institute (IJC), a center that, as the ARA has advanced, has been forced to release the results of an audit that analyzed the institute's financial management over the past five years. This and other documents and testimony confirm the existence of a series of accounting irregularities, abuse of power, and impersonation of scientists to benefit the search for Esteller.

Oncologist and researcher Manel Esteller will assume, as of December 6, the director of cancer genomics research at The James Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) at The Ohio State University (USA), where he will also serve as a professor of oncology. He will therefore leave the Josep Carreras Research Institute (IJC), where he has worked since 2019. According to the oncologist himself, he has communicated to the IJC that his intention is to combine his work in the United States with research in Catalonia through the Sant Pau Research Institute. Initially, Esteller wanted to maintain his position and salary as a researcher at Icrea—the Catalan government's talent acquisition program—which can reach 117,000 euros per year. However, following the publication of this article, he has finally requested a leave of absence.