Àngels López 
The IBEC-coordinated Connect-EU Nanobio + Nanomed working group has published a ‘roadmap’ for nanobiotechnology capabilities in Catalonia, the first major step since the group’s launch at the end of last year.
This month, Barcelona’s Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) will play host to a former astronaut who was also the first member of his profession to stand on top of Mount Everest.
Tonight at the Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC) in Barcelona, IBEC group leader Alicia Casals will inaugurate the beginning of their new academic year with a lecture, “Neurorobòtica, el repte de la robòtica assistencial”. The event will take place in the Sala Prat de la Riba and will be chaired by the President of the Generalitat, Artur Mas, and the president of IEC, Salvador Giner.
The picture shows IBEC director Josep Planell presenting and chairing a session on New Biomaterials and Design Trends at this week’s Biomaterials Europe Conference and Medevice Spain Exhibition, a new event devoted to innovations in biomaterials and the manufacture of medical devices.
Representatives from IBEC attended Wednesday’s Connect-EU conference at Barcelona’s World Trade Center, which offered a platform for the gathering and exchange of information regarding participation in the 7th Framework Programme for R & D in Europe.
Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutes last year, IBEC will play host to visitors from the University of Warwick on 22-23 September.
Today is the abstract submission deadline for posters for IBEC’s fourth annual symposium on Bioengineering and Nanomedicine, which will be held on 18 October 2011.
Elisabeth Engel, Senior researcher in the Bio/non-bio interactions for regenerative medicine group, has been interviewed for her expert response to some research into bone regeneration conducted by researchers in Italy.
A new event devoted to innovations in biomaterials and biomaterials processing will be held in Barcelona in October, with IBEC as sponsoring partner.
The Biomechanics and Mechanobiology group’s latest paper, published yesterday in PLoS Computational Biology, made the BBC news today. Andrea Malandrino, Jérôme Noailly and group leader Damien Lacroix’s paper, ‘The effect of sustained compression on oxygen metabolic transport in the intervertebral disc decreases with degenerative changes’ describes results that could help to predict the onset of spinal disc degeneration.