IBEC Seminar: Mateu Pla
2016-03-18 10:00 - 11:00 UTC
What can we do with our 3D Bioprinter?
Dr. Mateu Pla, Coordinator of Nanotechnology Platform
A 3D bioprinter (3D-Discovery from RegenHU ) has recently arrived at IBEC, and the first training courses have already started.
3D Bioprinters allow us to generate 3D scaffolds combining biomaterials and cell-laden hydrogels. The applications of this 3D constructs spans from 3D cellular models for drug screening (i.e. dermis), scaffolds for regenerative medicine or, at a more advanced stage, organ-printing.
During this presentation, an introduction to bioprinting and the current and future capabilities of IBEC’s 3D bioprinter will be presented.

IBEC Seminar: Nick Brown
2016-04-06 10:00 - 11:00
Linking cell adhesion receptors with the cytoskeleton in morphogenesis
Prof. Nick Brown, Dept of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge
We use Drosophila development as our test tube to dissect mechanisms of integrin-mediated adhesion to the extracellular matrix, tackling these questions:
-How is the adhesion structure built?
-What are the roles of the many adhesome components?
-How did the integrin machinery arise during evolution?
-Can we establish an integrated model of integrin adhesion sites?

Compra Pública de Tecnología Innovadora (CPTI)
2016-04-14 09:30 - 14:00
Compra Pública de Tecnología Innovadora
La Compra Pública de Tecnología Innovadora (CPTI) para el fomento de la innovación está orientada al desarrollo de nuevos mercados desde la demanda por medio de la contratación pública.
En esta jornada, contaremos con representantes de las políticas regionales y estatales, y trataremos la perspectiva de las empresas y hospitales desde un punto de vista nacional y europeo, casos de éxito y nuevas oportunidades.
For more details and to register, visit https://ibecbarcelona.eu/events/Compra_Publica_Innovadora

Compra Pública de Tecnología Innovadora (CPTI)
2016-04-14 09:30 - 14:00
Compra Pública de Tecnología Innovadora
La Compra Pública de Tecnología Innovadora (CPTI) para el fomento de la innovación está orientada al desarrollo de nuevos mercados desde la demanda por medio de la contratación pública.
En esta jornada, contaremos con representantes de las políticas regionales y estatales, y trataremos la perspectiva de las empresas y hospitales desde un punto de vista nacional y europeo, casos de éxito y nuevas oportunidades.
For more details and to register, visit http://ibecbarcelona.eu/events/Compra_Publica_Innovadora

IBEC Seminar: Jaume Veciana
2016-04-15 10:00 - 11:00
Multifunctional molecular nanovesicles: A new challenge for drug delivery
Prof. Jaume Veciana, ICMAB-CSIC and CIBER-BBN, Campus Universitari de Bellaterra
In this lecture a simple one-step and scale-up methodology for preparing multifunctional nanovesicle-drug conjugates will be presented. This method is readily amenable to the integration/encapsulation of multiple bioactive components, like peptides, proteins, enzymes, into the vesicles in a single-step yielding sufficient quantities for clinical research becoming, thereby, nanocarriers to be used in nanomedicine. A couple of examples of novel nanomedicines for solving serious diseases, prepared by this methodology, will be presented.

IBEC Seminar: Guy A. Dumont
2016-04-26 12:00 - 13:00
Signal Processing and Control: From Sleep Apnea to Automated Anesthesia
Dr Guy A. Dumont, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
This talk will describe a number of key projects undertaken by the Electrical and Computer Engineering for Medicine (ECEM) and the Paediatric Anesthesia Research team (PART) at the University of British Columbia. The commonality between those projects lies in the use of advanced signal processing and control for clinical applications. The applications span mobile health applications for use in both developed and developing word settings for pathologies such as pre-eclampsia, pneumonia and obstructive sleep apnea as well as automated drug delivery in critical care settings.

IBEC Seminar: Wieteke de Boer
2016-04-26 16:00 - 17:00
Optical activation of neurons through low power two-photon IR excitation of gold nanoparticles
Wieteke de Boer, Departments of Biological Sciences and Neuroscience, Columbia University
Selective optical stimulation of specific classes of excitable cells is a major goal in neurobiology. Here we propose the approach of indirect photostimulation through gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), which are conjugated to the neuronal membrane. Au NPs are frequently used in biological research due to their versatile applicability: they have a broad optical tunability, large absorption cross sections, can be made chemically stable and biocompatible, and most importantly they are non-invasive and non-toxic even up to excessively large quantities. We show that these NPs can facilitate reliable optical stimulation of neurons through the plasmonic effect using IR two-photon (2P) excitation, with extremely low excitation powers. The NPs can be easily tethered to any targeted tissue and are known to be excreted without inducing any permanent damage. Using this approach, Au NPs are an attractive alternative to genetic modification techniques (such as channelrhodopsins) as it circumvents potential issues often seen in those methods, e.g. poor signal-to-noise ratio, photo-instability, photo-toxicity and expression efficiency.

El present i el futur de la Fibrosi Quística
2016-04-27 10:00 - 20:30 | Auditori Barradas, Rambla Just Oliveras, 56, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
El present i el futur de la Fibrosi Quística
27/04/16
El dimecres 27 d’abril, amb motiu del dia Nacional de la Fibrosi Quística, l’IBEC organitza la jornada divulgativa “El present i el futur de la Fibrosi Quística”, amb l’objectiu de conscienciar a la societat sobre la incidència d’aquesta malaltia, informar dels aspectes clínics i donar a conèixer els resultats que s’estan assolint en el camp de la recerca.
La Fibrosi Quística és una malaltia genètica i hereditària que està present des de la concepció. Es calcula que cada any neixen a Catalunya uns 14 nens afectats per aquesta malaltia, el que la converteix en la malaltia genètica hereditària més freqüent. Les estadístiques permeten afirmar que un de cada 25 individus és portador del gen de la malaltia, el que significa, per exemple, que a Espanya hi ha d’1,5 a 2 milions de persones portadores del gen de la Fibrosi Quística.
Gràcies a l’estudi genètic de la Fibrosi Quística, s’ha experimentat grans avenços en els últims anys que han permès desenvolupar la investigació en diferents àmbits. La jornada està organitzada en estreta col·laboració amb l’Associació Catalana de Fibrosi Quística (ACFQ), que va néixer amb l’objectiu de lluitar per millorar la qualitat de vida dels malalts i de les seves famílies, i té el suport de Pessics de Ciència, projecte dedicat a fomentar la ciència fent-la propera, atractiva i entenedora.
L’esdeveniment s’articularà en dues activitats; una xerrada divulgativa per a estudiants de batxillerat, i una taula rodona, “Present i futur de la Fibrosi Quística: pacients, clínica i recerca”, dirigida al públic general que comptarà amb la presència de diferents personalitats, experts clínics, investigadors i representants de pacients.
10:00 – 13:00: Xerrada divulgativa dirigida a alumnes de secundària
19:00 – 20:30: Taula rodona “Present i futur de la Fibrosi Quística: pacients, clínica i recerca”
Registration: https://ibecbarcelona.eu/events/Fibrosis-Quistica/registro.html

El present i el futur de la Fibrosi Quística
2016-04-27 10:00 - 20:30 | Auditori Barradas, Rambla Just Oliveras, 56, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
El present i el futur de la Fibrosi Quística
27/04/16
El dimecres 27 d’abril, amb motiu del dia Nacional de la Fibrosi Quística, l’IBEC organitza la jornada divulgativa “El present i el futur de la Fibrosi Quística”, amb l’objectiu de conscienciar a la societat sobre la incidència d’aquesta malaltia, informar dels aspectes clínics i donar a conèixer els resultats que s’estan assolint en el camp de la recerca.
La Fibrosi Quística és una malaltia genètica i hereditària que està present des de la concepció. Es calcula que cada any neixen a Catalunya uns 14 nens afectats per aquesta malaltia, el que la converteix en la malaltia genètica hereditària més freqüent. Les estadístiques permeten afirmar que un de cada 25 individus és portador del gen de la malaltia, el que significa, per exemple, que a Espanya hi ha d’1,5 a 2 milions de persones portadores del gen de la Fibrosi Quística.
Gràcies a l’estudi genètic de la Fibrosi Quística, s’ha experimentat grans avenços en els últims anys que han permès desenvolupar la investigació en diferents àmbits. La jornada està organitzada en estreta col·laboració amb l’Associació Catalana de Fibrosi Quística (ACFQ), que va néixer amb l’objectiu de lluitar per millorar la qualitat de vida dels malalts i de les seves famílies, i té el suport de Pessics de Ciència, projecte dedicat a fomentar la ciència fent-la propera, atractiva i entenedora.
L’esdeveniment s’articularà en dues activitats; una xerrada divulgativa per a estudiants de batxillerat, i una taula rodona, “Present i futur de la Fibrosi Quística: pacients, clínica i recerca”, dirigida al públic general que comptarà amb la presència de diferents personalitats, experts clínics, investigadors i representants de pacients.
10:00 – 13:00: Xerrada divulgativa dirigida a alumnes de secundària
19:00 – 20:30: Taula rodona “Present i futur de la Fibrosi Quística: pacients, clínica i recerca”
Registration: http://ibecbarcelona.eu/events/Fibrosis-Quistica/registro.html

PhD Discussions Complementary Skills Session: Xavier Rubies
2016-04-29 10:00 - 23:00
Technology Transfer: how to bring science to the market

Xavier Rubies, Tech Transfer Unit, IBEC
Abstract to follow.
Xavier has a wide experience in the healthcare sector over the last 20 years. He holds a PhD in Veterinary Medicine and an Executive MBA, and has experience in strategy definition, IP license, business development, turnaround management, contract research, start up and regulatory affairs in pharmaceutical and medical device companies, always in an international environment. Xavier combines experience in the private and public sector. He has been Director of R&D of private companies like Innovative Health Technologies (a European medical device company based in Barcelona) and Hipra Laboratories (a pharmaceutical company). On the public side, Xavier was Director of Technology Transfer at the CRG (Centre for Genomic Regulation) for more than 5 years.

reSearch4Talent 2016
2016-05-05 09:00 - 17:00 | IBEC, Baldiri Reixac 10-12, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
reSearch4Talent 2016
On Thursday 5th May 2016 we’ll open our doors again to undergraduate and masters students interested in a research career.
This is the second edition of reSearch4Talent, the first of which was held in April last year and which attracted 60 participants.
For more details or to register, visit https://ibecbarcelona.eu/events/re-search4talent

reSearch4Talent 2016
2016-05-05 09:00 - 17:00 | IBEC, Baldiri Reixac 10-12, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
reSearch4Talent 2016
On Thursday 5th May 2016 we’ll open our doors again to undergraduate and masters students interested in a research career.
This is the second edition of reSearch4Talent, the first of which was held in April last year and which attracted 60 participants.
For more details or to register, visit http://ibecbarcelona.eu/events/re-search4talent

PhD Thesis Defence: Anita Kosmalska
2016-05-06 12:00 - 14:00 | Aula 15, 5th floor, Faculty of Medicine, UB, Barcelona, Spain
“Physical principles of membrane remodeling during cell mechanoadaptation”
Anita Joanna Kosmalska, Cellular and molecular mechanobiology group
Anita will be defending her PhD thesis on Friday 6th May at 12:00 at the Faculty of Medicine (Aula 15, 5th floor) of the UB.
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 Seminar: Marina Martínez
2016-05-12 11:30 - 12:30 | Sala 1, Torre D, PCB, Baldiri Reixac 4-8, 08028 Barcelona
How to improve proposals & strategy within Horizon 2020
Marina Martínez, The Spanish Office for Science and Technology (SOST-CDT)
The aim of this seminar is to advice researchers, research managers and research support services on how to improve their success ratio on EU proposals application. Moreover, she will give an overview of all H2020 landscape, as well as all the stakeholders involved in order to choose the best strategy within EU positioning.
Limited places available. Register here.

IBEC Seminar: The new IBEC Bio-AFM system
2016-05-19 12:00 - 13:00
The new IBEC Bio-AFM system: system’s performance, applications and users’ guide
Gabriel Gomila, Group Leader, Nanoscale Bioelectrical Characterization, IBEC
In this talk I will introduce the new Bio-Atomic Force Microscopy infrastructure of IBEC. I will start describing the components of the infrastructure, its location at IBEC and its potential performance. Then I will present some examples of application of this system, and show the first results obtained with it. Finally, I will explain the special rules for its use by IBEC users.

IBEC Seminar: Xavier Fernández-Busquets
2016-05-20 10:00 - 11:00
A Short (Hi)story of Malaria
Xavier Fernández-Busquets, Nanomalaria Joint Unit (IBEC/Barcelona Institute for Global Health)
Reportedly, malaria has been the killer of about half of all people who have ever lived, among which such celebrities as king Tutankhamun, Alexander the Great, and Genghis Khan. To commemorate the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to Professor Youyou Tu, we will overview the fascinating history of this murderer disease through the small stories of its sufferers from dinosaurs to humans. From the exorbitant egos of renowned physicians to the shameful experiments in concentration camps and prisons during WWII, or from the darkest depths of malariotherapy to the shining lights leading to the discovery of some of its remedies, malaria will keep us in awe of its amazing (hi)story.

IBEC seminar: Isaac Gállego
2016-05-26 10:00 - 11:00
DNA Nanotechnology: from its Applications to the Self-Assembly in Alternative Solvents
Isaac Gállego, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
DNA nanotechnology is a relatively new field that utilizes the DNA’s programmability and self-assembly properties to build custom-designed shapes at the nanometer scale. A common implementation is the DNA origami method, in which a M13 single stranded genome (scaffold) is folded by hundreds of complementary base-paired oligonucleotides (staples). DNA nanostructures have been successfully utilized to create two-dimensional and three-dimensional devices with applications in lithography, photonics, electronics, and the fabrication of inorganic materials. Herein, I will present to you my work on DNA nanotechnology, which includes: i) the development of a biosensor to dsiplay the DNA repair activity hAGT—an enzyme target for the development of cancer therapeutics;1 ii) the transfer a pre-programmed nanosclae pattern of DNA onto gold surfaces, a challenging process useful for the fabrication of functional materials; and iii) the first study of self-assembly of DNA nanostructures in a non-aqueous, alternative solvent, a deep eutectic solvent composed of glycerol and choline chloride in a 4:1 molar ratio (glycholine).2 Glycholine and its hydrated mixtures facilitate DNA folding by alleviating kinetic traps that are often encountered during the folding of DNA structures in aqueous solvent.
1. Tintoré, M., Gállego, I., Manning, B., Eritja, R. & Fàbrega, C. DNA Origami as a DNA Repair Nanosensor at the Single‐Molecule Level. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 52, 7747–7750
2. Gállego, I., Grover, M. A. & Hud, N. V. Folding and Imaging of DNA Nanostructures in Anhydrous and Hydrated Deep-Eutectic Solvents. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 54, 6765–6769 (2015).

PhD Discussion Session: Elisabet Martí and Maria Valls
2016-05-27 10:00 - 11:00
Amphoteric polyamidoamines as innovative tools to selectively direct antimalarial drug towards Plasmodium-infected red blood cells
Elisabet Martí, Nanomalaria joint group
Malaria, caused by the protist Plasmodium spp., in 2015 alone claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, mainly young African children, and it had been responsible for 214 million new cases. Despite a significant decrease in the number of malaria-related deaths, there is still a need for new therapeutic strategies such as finding new antimalarial drugs or substantially improving old ones, by decreasing side effects and avoiding resistance appearance. The development of highly specific and efficient targeted nanocarriers can be the engine of this change, which however needs to be done at an affordable cost for malaria endemic countries.
Four different polyamidoamine (PAA) polymers are being studied in our group with the aim of developing a targeted nanovector capable of reaching in the mid term the preclinical pipeline.
The PAA AGMA1 had shown in previous studies antimalarial activity per se at non-toxic concentrations, as well as certain specificity for pRBCs vs. RBCs. We are trying to elucidate the corresponding mechanisms by characterizing the interaction between AGMA1 and pRBCs. Experiments such as targeting and growth inhibition assays in vitro, antimalarial activity in vivo and determination of encapsulation capacity are being currently performedwith AGMA1and with three other PAAs: ISA23, ISA1 and ARGO7. Preliminary results suggest the capacity of AGMA1 to activate the immune system, indicating that PAAs could be eventually used as an agent with double activity as a drug nanocarrier and as a prophylactic agent.

Development of a Biomimetic Bioreactor for Cardiac Tissue Engineering Applications
Maria Valls, Biomimetic systems for cell engineering group
Ischemic heart disease is a major cause of human death worldwide owing to the heart’s minimal ability to repair following injury. Therefore, shedding light on heart regeneration and its possible application in medicine is of paramount interest for the scientific community. In this sense, cardiac tissue engineering aims at obtaining cardiac patches for regenerative medicine purposes. In addition, these patches could serve as valuable in vitro models to study heart development and regeneration, heart diseases or as drug screening platforms.
A prerequisite for obtaining faithful cardiac patches is to mimic the native cardiac environment. Although major advances have been done, the generation of mature tissue constructs from human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells is still a challenge. To address this, we have developed a parallelized perfusion bioreactor system and characterized a collagen-based 3D scaffold. Also, we have designed a perfusion chamber including graphite electrodes to electrically stimulate cells during culture. With this setup, we have obtained contractile cardiac tissue constructs from primary cultures of neonatal rat heart ventricles that show an enhanced response when cultured under electrical stimulation.
We are currently culturing cardiac progenitors derived from hiPS cells, to produce useful human cardiac tissue surrogates to study cardiovascular tissue maturation as well as for drug/toxicity testing.
