Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia

IBEC Seminar: Herbert Levine
2016-11-22 15:00 - 16:00 (Europe/Madrid)
Models of individual and collective cell motility
Herbert Levine, Director, Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP), Rice University, Houston
Eukaryotic cells can move either individually or collectively and this property is crucial for many biological functions. Often cells use directional information to decide on their direction; for single cells this can take the form of chemical or mechanical gradients. For collective motion, additional information can be obtained from neighboring cells through such processes as the contact inhibition of locomotion. Our group develops a variety of computational models for studying actin-based crawling motions. These models range from rather complex and detailed at the single cell levels to simple reduced representations that can handle tissue-level processes. This talk will focus on out recent progress in this direction, specifically on collective chemotaxis of cellular clusters and the role of contact inhibition in the mechanical state of expanding tissues.

NanoBio&Med2016
2016-11-22 08:00 - 2016-11-24 17:00 | UB Faculty of Medicine, c/ Casanova 143, Barcelona, Spain
NanoBio&Med2016 presents the most recent international developments in the field of Nanobiotechnology and Nanomedicine and will provide a platform for multidisciplinary communication, new cooperations and projects to participants from both science and industry.
Emerging and future trends of the converging fields of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology and Medicine will be discussed among industry, academia, governmental and non-governmental institutions. NanoBio&Med2016 will be the perfect place to get a complete overview into the state of the art in those fields and also to learn about the research carried out and the latest results. The discussion in recent advances, difficulties and breakthroughs will be at his higher level.
An industrial forum will be organized to promote constructive dialogue between business and public leaders and put specific emphasis on the technologies and applications in the nanoBioMed sector.
For more details and to register, visit http://www.nanobiomedconf.com/NBM16/index.php

IBEC Seminar: Enabling technologies for biofabrication of functional materials and biomimetic environments
2016-11-18 12:00 - 13:00
Enabling technologies for biofabrication of functional materials and biomimetic environments
Dr. Alvaro Mata, Director of the Institute of Bioengineering at Queen Mary University of London
The talk will present novel self-assembling and printing technologies enabling the fabrication of 2D and 3D bioactive and/or biomimetic materials for potential application in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and in vitro models.
Examples of projects that will be presented include a) a bioactive membrane capable of growing hierarchically-ordered hydroxyapatite structures that resemble those found in human dental enamel; b) a dynamic self-assembling peptide-protein system capable of controllably accessing non-equilibrium to grow tubes and capillaries with potential application in tissue engineering; and c) a simple 3D molecular printing method to create distinct chemical environments ranging from tens of microns to centimeters in size and depth within different types of hydrogels.

IBEC Seminar: Dr. Silvia Muro, Nanobiotechnology for drug delivery
2016-11-16 12:30 - 13:30
Nanobio-technology for drug delivery: fundamental aspects and translational applications
Dr. Silvia Muro, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
The design of targeting and carrier strategies to enable delivery of therapeutic or diagnostic agents to areas of the body requiring intervention is an active research field. Therapeutic and diagnostic targets are often confined to specific regions or tissues in the body, where access may require active transport from the circulation into the subjacent tissue. In addition, once within the tissue or body compartment of interest, most targets of intervention relate to sub-cellular environments, e.g., the cell surface versus different intracellular compartments, further requiring strategies to achieve this goal.
Using polymer nanocarriers functionalized with affinity moieties against single or combined cell-surface receptors, along with additional biological signaling moieties, my laboratory focuses on understanding the parameters that regulate transport of drug delivery vehicles across cellular barriers and into cells of subjacent tissues. We examine these aspects using cell culture models with subsequent validation in laboratory animals to correlate molecular/cellular mechanisms with in vivo outcomes. We investigate the influence exerted on targeting and uptake by drug carrier design parameters (size, shape, avidity, combination targeting, etc.) and parameters that are intrinsic to the physiological system (disease states, flow, receptor epitopes being targeted, modulation of regulatory molecules, etc.). The characterization of these complex physiological and design parameters, along with the understanding of the mechanisms governing the interaction of drugs carriers with the surrounding biological environment, are necessary steps toward achieving efficient drug delivery systems.

IBEC Seminar: Nanobio-technology for drug delivery: fundamental aspects and translational applications
2016-11-16 12:30 - 13:30

Setmana de la Ciència 2016: nanoROBOTS
2016-11-15 18:00 - 20:30 | Sala Dolors Aleu, Cluster II, Parc Científic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Imagina un submarí tan petit que pogués navegar dins del nostre torrent sanguini per portar fàrmacs allà on fos necessari. Sembla increïble oi?
Samuel Sánchez, expert en nanorobots, ens explicarà els reptes als quals s’enfronten per fer-ho possible.

El proper dimarts 15 de novembre, l’IBEC organitza una jornada de portes obertes on els visitants podran descobrir l’entorn on treballen els nostres investigadors i apropar-se al món dels nanoROBOTS.
18:00 Visita als laboratoris (grup reduït)
19:00 Xerrada divulgativa
Activitat gratuïta
Per majors de 16 anys
Places limitades
Per inscripcions enviar un mail a: ibecevents@ibecbarcelona.eu
http://www.fundaciorecerca.cat/setmanaciencia

Semana de la Ciencia 2016: nanoROBOTS
2016-11-15 18:00 - 20:30 | Sala Dolors Aleu, Parc Científic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Imagina un submarino tan pequeño que pudiera navegar dentro de nuestro torrente sanguíneo para llevar fármacos donde fueran necesarios. Parece increíble, ¿verdad? Samuel Sánchez, experto en nanorobots, nos explicará los retos a los cuales se enfrentan para hacerlo posible.

El próximo martes 15 de noviembre, el IBEC organiza una jornada de puertas abiertas donde los visitantes podrán descubrir el entorno donde trabajan nuestros investigadores y acercarse al mundo de los nanoROBOTS. 18:00 Visita a los laboratorios (grupo reducido) 19:00 Conferencia divulgativa Actividad gratuita Para mayores de 16 años Plazas limitadas Para inscripciones enviar un mail indicando nombre, apellidos y DNI a: ibecevents@ibecbarcelona.eu http://www.fundaciorecerca.cat/setmanaciencia

PhD Thesis Defense: Themis Toumanidou
2016-11-14 11:00 - 13:00 | Sala 55.410 (planta 4a), Edifici Tànger, UPF (Campus de Poblenou), Barcelona, Spain
“Finite element simulation of the healthy and degenerated lumbar spine. Interplay between muscle activity and intervertebral disc multiphysics.”
Themis Toumanidou, Biomechanics and Mechanobiology group
Themis will be defending her PhD thesis on Monday 14th November at 11:00 in Sala 55.410 (planta 4a) of the Edifici Tànger of the UPF (Campus de Poblenou).
Everybody is welcome to attend.
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If you’re an IBEC PhD student and would like to advertise your PhD defence on the IBEC calendar, please contact vleigh@ibecbarcelona.eu

IBEC PhD Thesis Defence: Luis Estrada
2016-11-07 11:00 - 12:00 | Sala d’Actes de la Facultat de Matemàtica i Estadística (FME), C. Pau Gargallo, 5, Barcelona, 08028
“Evaluación no invasiva del impulso neural respiratorio y su relación con la respuesta mecánica mediante el análisis de señales electromiográficas de músculos respiratorios”
Luis Carlos Estrada Petrocelli, Biomedical signal processing and interpretation group
Luis will be defending his PhD thesis on Monday 7th November at 11:00 at the Facultat de Matemàtiques i Estadística (Sala d’Actes) of the UPC (c. Pau Gargallo, 5 08028 Barcelona).
Everybody is welcome to attend.
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If you’re an IBEC PhD student and would like to advertise your PhD defence on the IBEC calendar, please contact vleigh@ibecbarcelona.eu

V Jornades sobre l'ensenyament de la biologia i la geologia a secundària
2016-11-03 - 2016-11-05, 2016-11-03 00:00 - 2016-11-05 23:59 | CosmoCaixa Barcelona, Carrer d'Isaac Newton, 08022 Barcelona, Spain
De la interpretació del passat al disseny del futur
Activitat per a escoles a CosmoCaixa Barcelona
Les Jornades sobre l’Ensenyament de la Biologia i la Geologia a Secundària, organitzades conjuntament pel Col·legi Oficial de Doctors i Llicenciats en Filosofia i Lletres i en Ciències de Catalunya, CosmoCaixa Barcelona i el Departament d’Ensenyament de la Generalitat de Catalunya, aspiren a constituir un punt de trobada per debatre els reptes actuals que planteja la docència d’aquestes disciplines.
La millor ciència és aquella que afronta els enigmes des de tots els fronts possibles, amb totes les eines disponibles. La ciència és necessàriament transversal, ja que el món és únic, som els humans els que ho compartimentem per tal que sigui més fàcil abastar-lo.
Els grans problemes del segle XXI són complexos i, per tant, requereixen de la col·laboració de diferents disciplines . Els equips d’investigadors actuals són interdisciplinaris; treballen costat a costat biòlegs, físics, químics, estadístics, geòlegs, enginyers … ja que els nous coneixements estan ara en les fronteres entre especialitats. Però, què passa en els centres d’ensenyament? Som capaços de fer visible la importància de la transversalitat de la ciència?
A partir d’una àmplia i diversa oferta de tallers i conferències, aquestes jornades pretenen contribuir a:
– Analitzar i resoldre problemes utilitzant de forma integrada models científics de diferents disciplines així com aspectes tecnològics.
– Identificar la necessitat d’aprofundir en la coordinació entre el professorat de secundària de diferents disciplines
– Reflexionar sobre la importància de proporcionar a l’alumnat una visió més integrada i funcional del coneixement científic per al seu desenvolupament competencial
