Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia

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.

IX Conferencia Anual de las Plataformas Tecnológicas de Investigación Biomédica
2016-03-15 08:00 - 2016-03-16 17:00 | Hotel Crowne Plaza, Avinguda de Rius i Taulet 1-3, Barcelona, Spain
En esta Conferencia Anual, se persigue dar respuesta a los nuevos retos que se plantean en la investigación biomédica. Algunos, llegan de la mano de un nuevo marco normativo como el Real Decreto 1090/2015 de Ensayos Clínicos, que supone un cambio significativo en el país y permitirá una adaptación rápida y competitiva a las nuevas exigencias cuando entre en vigor el nuevo Reglamento Europeo sobre la materia. Además, se tratarán de resolver otros retos, como la reutilización de datos para la investigación biomédica, salvaguardando las cuestiones éticas y legales, al mismo tiempo que se permite el avance científico. Todo ello desde una perspectiva nacional e internacional de colaboración público-privada.
Agenda

IBEC Seminar: Samuel Ojosnegros
2016-03-11 10:00 - 11:00
Imaging Eph/ephrin cell-cell communication through Enhanced Number and Brightness: a novel method for the study of protein aggregation
Dr. Samuel Ojosnegros, Centre de Medicina Regenerativa de Barcelona (CMRB)
Proteins constantly interact with each other assembling a variety of molecular species, including small oligomers, fibers of dynamic polymerization or high-order clusters, among others. However, current methods discriminate poorly the stoichiometry of protein interactions in living cells. To overcome these impediments we developed an enhanced version of Number & Brightness (eN&B), a powerful live imaging technique with capability to investigate multiple domains of information. eN&B determines the distribution of protein aggregates present inside every pixel in an image during time-lapse movies. It can reach unprecedented level of space and time resolution compared to FRET-based or FCS-based methods. When studying EphB2 receptor activation, the eN&B allowed us to resolve simultaneously the aggregation state of 40 different oligomers in 3 dimensions (x, y, t) and pixel depth. We found that Eph oligomerization follows a sophisticated dynamics consistent with a nucleated polymerization process, where activation and clustering are decoupled processes. This decoupling endows the receptor with high sensitivity for low ligand concentrations while at the same time allows to provide a proportional response to a wide range of ligand concentrations. In summary, I will present a novel imaging tool with capability to determine the stoichiometry of receptor-ligand interactions and potentially, many other instances or protein aggregation.

PhD Discussions Complementary Skills Session: Scientists and popularisers: challenge and responsibility
2016-02-26 10:00 - 11:00
Scientists and popularisers: challenge and responsibility

David Bueno, Departament de Genètica · Facultat de Biologia, UB
Science has become central to human life, not just for developing new products and applications and for understanding the world, but also as a transforming element for society and human thinking. Science is everywhere, and often, social organisations have to take decisions based on scientific research or with scientific implications. Moreover, some science applications involve ethical issues, which have to be addressed within communities. In this context, communicating and popularizing science is a prerequisite for strengthening and deepening democratic mechanisms, as it may strengthen the social participation of citizens with the appropriate scientific knowledge to participate in collective decisions, with equal rights and responsibilities. In this talk, the challenge and responsibility of scientists to contribute to science communication and popularisation will be addressed, as well as the main principles ruling science popularisation.

“Envelliment humà, on estan els límits?”
2016-02-10 19:00 - 20:00 | Sala Verdaguer, Ateneu Barcelonès, Carrer de la Canuda, 6, Barcelona, Spain
IBEC Director Josep Samitier will be a speaker at a free public lecture organised by the Secció de Ciència i Tecnologia de l’Ateneu Barcelonès as part of the association’s “+Humans: el futur de la nostra espècie” cycle.
In “Envelliment humà, on estan els límits?” Josep and another expert, Dr. Joan Guàrdia of the Institut de Recerca Cervell, Cognició i Conducta (IR3C) and psychology professor at the University de Barcelona, will share their views on human ageing, specificially the morphological and physiological changes that appear as a result of the action of time on human beings.
The public event will will take place at the Sala Verdaguer of the Ateneu Barcelonès on Wednesday 10th February at 19:00.
http://www.ateneubcn.org/agenda/envelliment-huma-son-els-limits

IBEC Seminar: Josef A. Käs
2016-02-05 10:00 - 11:00
Why do rigid tumours contain soft cancer cells?
Prof. Dr. Josef A. Käs, Principal Investigator & Head of the Soft Matter Physics Division · Leipzig University
As early as 400 BCE, the Roman medical encyclopaedist Celsus recognized that solid tumours are stiffer than surrounding tissue. However, cancer cell lines are softer, and softer cells facilitate invasion. This paradox raises several questions: Does softness emerge from adaptation to mechanical and chemical cues in the external microenvironment, or are soft cells already present inside a primary solid tumour? If the latter, how can a more rígid tissue contain more soft cells? Here we show that in primary tumour samples from patients with mammary and cervix carcinomas, cells do exhibit a broad distribution of rigidities, with a higher fraction of softer and more contractile cells compared to normal tissue. Mechanical modelling based on patient data reveals that, surprisingly, tumours with a significant fraction of very soft cells can still remain rigid. Moreover, in tissues with the observed distributions of cell stiffnesses, softer cells spontaneously self-organize into lines or streams, possibly facilitating cancer metastasis.

PhD Thesis Defence: Isil Tekeli
2016-02-03 11:00 - 13:00 | Sala de Graus Aulari, Physics Faculty, UB, Barcelona
“Bioengineering approach to study the role of cell migration during zebrafish heart regeneration”
Isil Tekeli, Control of Stem Cell Potency group
Isil will be defending her PhD thesis on Wednesday 3rd February at 11:00 in the Sala de Graus Aulari of the Physics Faculty 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

Nano World Cancer Day
2016-02-02 11:00 - 13:30 | Paranimf de la Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, C. Casanova 143 · 08036 Barcelona, Spain
Bienvenido al NANO WORLD CANCER DAY 2016!
El próximo 2 de febrero se celebrará la tercera edición del NANO WORLD CANCER DAY (NWCD), un evento de alcance mundial organizado en el marco del Día Mundial del Cáncer.
Su principal objetivo es dar a conocer las últimas innovaciones en materia de nanomedicina contra el cáncer, con temas que van desde el diagnóstico precoz, la liberación controlada de fármacos o la radioterapia con nanopartículas.
Durante el NANO WORLD CANCER DAY 2016 se organizarán eventos simultáneos en diferentes países de toda Europa, con la presencia de la prensa. Este año los países participantes en el acontecimiento internacional serán: Alemania, Austria, Francia, Grecia, Irlanda, Italia, Países Bajos, Portugal, España, Suiza, Turquía y Reino Unido.
Durante este día, expertos en Nanomedicina de cada país, y desde los diferentes campos (investigadores, médicos, oncólogos, emprendedores, etc.) expondrán los últimos adelantos y nos darán la oportunidad de descubrir el generador de progreso que la Nanomedicina significa para la salud como creador de nuevas oportunidades en el diagnóstico y el tratamiento del cáncer.
NANO WORLD CANCER DAY es un evento que se inició en 2013 y está organizado a nivel europeo por ETP Nanomedicine (European Technology Platform), en el marco del proyecto europeo ENATRANS (Enabling Nanomodicine Translation), y de manera local por los diferentes componentes de la plataforma en cada país, en España, NanomedSpain.
PROGRAMA:

11:00 Josep Samitier (Coordinador de NanomedSpain. Director de el Instituto de Bioingeniería de Catalunya (IBEC))
11:15 Pendiente confirmar
11:30 Mª Jesús Vicent (Investigadora principal en Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe (CIPF))
11:45 Mª Luisa Villahermosa (Directora de I+D en GENOMICA)
12:00 Aleix Prat (Jefe de Oncología Médica del Hospital Clínic
Investigador principal en Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO))
12:15 Tiempo de debate y preguntas

LUGAR:
Aula Magna
Universitat de Barcelona
C. Casanova 143 · 08036 Barcelona
Enlace para registrarse:
http://ibecbarcelona.eu/events/nanoworldcancerday

Nano World Cancer Day
2016-02-02 11:00 - 13:30 | Paranimf de la Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, C. Casanova 143 · 08036 Barcelona, Spain
Bienvenido al NANO WORLD CANCER DAY 2016!
El próximo 2 de febrero se celebrará la tercera edición del NANO WORLD CANCER DAY (NWCD), un evento de alcance mundial organizado en el marco del Día Mundial del Cáncer.
Su principal objetivo es dar a conocer las últimas innovaciones en materia de nanomedicina contra el cáncer, con temas que van desde el diagnóstico precoz, la liberación controlada de fármacos o la radioterapia con nanopartículas.
Durante el NANO WORLD CANCER DAY 2016 se organizarán eventos simultáneos en diferentes países de toda Europa, con la presencia de la prensa. Este año los países participantes en el acontecimiento internacional serán: Alemania, Austria, Francia, Grecia, Irlanda, Italia, Países Bajos, Portugal, España, Suiza, Turquía y Reino Unido.
Durante este día, expertos en Nanomedicina de cada país, y desde los diferentes campos (investigadores, médicos, oncólogos, emprendedores, etc.) expondrán los últimos adelantos y nos darán la oportunidad de descubrir el generador de progreso que la Nanomedicina significa para la salud como creador de nuevas oportunidades en el diagnóstico y el tratamiento del cáncer.
NANO WORLD CANCER DAY es un evento que se inició en 2013 y está organizado a nivel europeo por ETP Nanomedicine (European Technology Platform), en el marco del proyecto europeo ENATRANS (Enabling Nanomodicine Translation), y de manera local por los diferentes componentes de la plataforma en cada país, en España, NanomedSpain.
PROGRAMA:

11:00 Josep Samitier (Coordinador de NanomedSpain. Director de el Instituto de Bioingeniería de Catalunya (IBEC))
11:15 Pendiente confirmar
11:30 Mª Jesús Vicent (Investigadora principal en Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe (CIPF))
11:45 Mª Luisa Villahermosa (Directora de I+D en GENOMICA)
12:00 Aleix Prat (Jefe de Oncología Médica del Hospital Clínic
Investigador principal en Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO))
12:15 Tiempo de debate y preguntas

LUGAR:
Aula Magna
Universitat de Barcelona
C. Casanova 143 · 08036 Barcelona
Enlace para registrarse:
https://ibecbarcelona.eu/events/nanoworldcancerday

PhD Thesis Defence: Ariadna Bartra
2016-01-29 12:00 - 14:00 | Room A44M, Physics Faculty, UB, Barcelona, Spain
“Detecció d’estats inadequats per la conducció de un vehicle a partir de la degradació del control dinàmic”
Ariadna Bartra, Signal and Information Group for Sensing Systems group
Ariadna will be defending her PhD thesis on Friday 29th January at 12:00 in room A44M of the Faculty of Physics at the UB.
Everybody is welcome to attend.
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If you would like to advertise your PhD defence on the IBEC calendar, please contact vleigh@ibecbarcelona.eu

IBEC Seminar: Josep Roca
2016-01-28 11:30 - 12:30
From Systems Understanding to Personalized Medicine: Lessons and Recommendations based on a multi-disciplinary and translational analysis of COPD
Dr. Josep Roca, UB / IDIBAPS / Hospital Clinic
Systems medicine, using and adapting methods and approaches as developed within systems biology, promises to be central in ongoing efforts of realizing and implementing personalized medicine in clinical practice and research. Here we review and critically assess opportunities and challenges using our work on COPD as a case study. We find that there are significant biomedical challenges in how to unravel complex multi-factorial components in disease initiation and progression producing different clinical phenotypes. Yet, while such a system understanding of COPD is necessary, there are other auxiliary challenges that need to be addressed in concert with a systems analysis of COPD. These include information and communication technologies (ICT) related issues such as data harmonization, systematic handling of knowledge, computational modeling, and importantly their translation and support of clinical practice. For example, clinical decision support systems need a seamless integration with new models and knowledge as systems analysis of COPD continues to develop. Our experience with clinical implementation of COPD highlights the need for a change of management including design of appropriate business models, and adoption of ICT providing and supporting organizational interoperability among professional teams across healthcare tiers, working around the patient. In conclusion, in our hands the scope and efforts of systems medicine need to concurrently consider these aspects clinical implementation this driving the selection of most relevant issues and method in a systems analysis of disease.

IBEC Seminar: Michael Schmuker
2016-01-26 10:00 - 23:00
Neural computation in odour space
Dr. Michael Schmuker, School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex, UK
Our sense of smell enables us to explore the world of chemical information. Yet, our knowledge on the structure of chemical stimulus space still lacks far behind other modalities like vision or hearing. This lack of knowledge currently presents a major roadblock for understanding how the brain efficiently encodes chemical information. Moreover, a better understanding of odour space, and how it is processed in the brain, may also enable bio-inspired design of efficient technical solutions for chemical sensing.
In this presentation, I will give an overview on our research on how the olfactory systems of insects and vertebrates encode and transform chemical information on its way from the primary sensors to higher brain areas. These investigations inspired us to implement the key concepts of olfactory processing on a neuromorphic hardware system that uses spiking neuronal networks to perform pattern recognition in high-dimensional feature spaces. I will also present our recent findings on how to extract information about source distance from the fine-structure of gas plumes.

PhD Thesis Defence: Xavier Puñet
2016-01-26 10:00 - 12:00 | Sala d’Actes de la Facultat de Matemàtica i Estadística (FME), C. Pau Gargallo, 5, Barcelona, 08028
“Design and Fabrication of Functionalized High Porous Poly(lactic acid)-based Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering”
Xavier Puñet, Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies group
Xavier will be defending his PhD thesis on Tuesday 26th January at 10:00 in the Sala d’Actes de la Facultat de Matemàtiques i Estadística (FME), 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

IBEC Seminar (Bellvitge): Martin Lohse, University of Würzburg
2016-01-22 15:00 - 16:00 | Aulari Nou de Bellvitge, Sala de Graus (room 001, ground floor), Campus de Bellvitge, c/ Feixa Llarga s/n, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
Optical studies of receptor activation and signaling
Prof. Dr. Martin Lohse, Chairman of the Rudolf Virchow Center for Experimental Biomedicine, University of Würzburg, Germany
Cyclic nucleotides (cAMP and cGMP) belong to the most ubiquitous intracellular messengers, are produced in response to multiple stimuli, act on several intracellular targets, and regulate a vast array of biological functions.
However, in spite of the fundamental importance of these signaling systems, very little is known about the temporal and spatial patterns of their production and action. In fact, space and time seem to play almost no role in current concepts of intracellular signaling. To gain an insight into these dimensions, we develop methods to create images of these second messengers in intact cells, and to resolve these intracellular signals in space and in time.

PhD Thesis defence: Silvia Pittolo
2016-01-22 10:00 - 12:00 | Aulari Nou de Bellvitge, room 402 (4th floor), Campus de Bellvitge, c/ Feixa Llarga s/n, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
“Development of light-modulated allosteric ligands for remote, non-invasive control of neuronal receptors”
Silvia Pittolo, Nanoprobes and Nanoswitches group
Silvia will be defending her PhD thesis on Friday 22nd January at 10:00 in the Aulari Nou de Bellvitge, room 402 (4th floor) at the Bellvitge Campus.
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

PhD Discussion Session: Ana María Solórzano and Joan Martí Muñoz
2016-01-22 10:00 - 11:00
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Societal Impact, Physiological Mechanism and Associated Chemical Instrumentation
Ana María Solórzano, Signal and information processing for sensing systems group
The hazardousness of carbon monoxide is based on the inability of humans to detect it. Carbon monoxide is not irritating and has no color, odor or either taste. The exposure to this gas can starve critical body organs specially vital organs like brain and heart.
The study and analysis of CO poisoning is not new. Even though in the last decades the society has been raised awareness on CO hazard, accidental deaths are still produced by exposure to this gas.
The health effects of the CO poisoning depend on its concentration and time exposure. Health problems are noticeable with concentrations since 0.01% (100ppm).; this is the reason that the medical Instrumentation is an essential tool for the detection of CO. There is a kind of instrumentation, which detects CO in the bloodstream, and in the atmosphere but the early detection of this compound still is a challenge.
We are exploring how multi gas sensor arrays can be an effective solution to detect CO faster than typical alarms.

Calcium releasing ormoglass coated PLA nanofibers: A new approach for bone regeneration
Joan Martí Muñoz, Biomaterials for regenerative therapies group
Bone fracture healing has become a serious problem in the last decades in part due to the increase in life expectancy (1). The use of strategies that help body to restore bone are needed to increase the quality life of people suffering this problem. Among this strategies, the use of natural sources such as; bone, growth factors and other biomolecules has become an efficient option, but present some limitations like money cost, amount limitation and storage, extra surgeries, rejection and possible disease transmission (1).
The use of synthetic materials can be an effective option. However they need to be tuned to include the proper bioactive signals. Hybrid materials are and interesting alternative. Their organic phase, normally a biodegradable biopolymer, holds the mechanical stress while their inorganic phase, a glass or ceramic, provides the needed bioactivity to recruit cells and produce bone. In many cases, the masking of the bioactive inorganic phase embedded in the organic matrix and undesired phase-detachments must be solved to increase efectiveness (2). Another limitation is the poor vascularization that synthetic materials induce.
Previous studies in our group demonstrated that extracellular Ca2+ release can promote angiogenesis (3). Here we present two different strategies: the first one consisting in CaP Ti-doped degradable ormoglass nanoparticles embedded inside polylactic acid (PLA) electrospun bioresorbable nanofibers; the second one consisting in CaP Si-doped degradable ormoglass nanoparticles (2) covalently attached on the surface of PLA electrospun nanofibers. In both cases the Ca2+ release by the ormoglass nanoparticles may activate the proper cell responses while the polymer provides the needed support to hold the particles and allow tissue growth. In the second case the attempt is to solve nanoparticle masking and detachment.
1 M. Navarro et al. J. R. Soc. Interface (2008) 5, 1137-1158.
2 N. Sachot et al. J. R. Soc. Interface (2013) 10, 20130684.
3 A. Aguirre et al. European Cells and Materials Vol. 24 2012 (pages 90-106).

PhD Defence: Aitor Sánchez
2015-12-18 11:00 - 13:00 | Sala d’Actes de la Facultat de Matemàtica i Estadística (FME), C. Pau Gargallo, 5, Barcelona, 08028
“Biomimetic hydrogels for in situ bone tissue engineering. Nature-inspired crosslinking methods as a tool to tune scaffold physical properties”
Aitor Sánchez, Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies group
Aitor will be defending his PhD thesis on Friday 18th December at 11:00 in the Sala d’Actes, Facultat de Matemàtica i Estadística (FME), 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
