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Barcelona hosts the fourth edition of the EMBL-IBEC Conference

The fourth EMBL-IBEC Conference, organised by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), focused on disease modelling, developmental biology, and regenerative medicine. The event brought around 130 international bioengineering experts together at the PRBB in Barcelona this week.

IBEC welcomes a new international cohort of doctoral students in collaboration with hospitals and centres of excellence

The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) is pleased to welcome new international students to its PhD programme. This initiative offers excellent training and research opportunities in bioengineering, as well as strong collaboration with leading hospitals and institutions.

IBEC showcases its leadership in biomedical innovation at MWC26 with three disruptive projects

Last week, Barcelona played host to MWC26, the world’s premier technology and connectivity event. The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia was in attendance, showcasing some of its spin-offs and state-of-the-art biomedical technologies, including: Nanobots Therapeutics, Lumiris Spectral Solutions, and Drug4Sight.

Three IBEC researchers receive grants from the Spanish Association Against Cancer

Three research projects led by IBEC researchers Xavier Rovira-Clavé, David Esporrín Ubieto and Aránzazu Villasante have been selected by the Spanish Association Against Cancer for its 2025 Grant Programme. The grant presentation ceremony, held in Barcelona today, recognised the momentum behind these initiatives, which range from advanced cell therapy platforms to smart nanomotors and innovative paediatric tumour treatment strategies.

IBEC promotes the medicine of the future with a knowledge transfer event during the Barcelona Health Innovation Week 2026

Today, researchers, clinicians and innovation experts gathered at a conference organised by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) as part of Barcelona Health Innovation Week 2026. The conference focused on accelerating the transfer of results towards a more personalised, preventive and sustainable future of medicine. The session emphasised the importance of strengthening interdisciplinary alliances to bring scientific advances to patients sooner, and highlighted the role of the Catalan biomedical ecosystem and the progress made by the Complementary Plan for Biotechnology Applied to Health in Catalonia.

Amayra Hernández-Vega receives a grant from the Pasqual Maragall Foundation to advance research on the early stages of Alzheimer’s

IBEC researcher Amayra Hernández-Vega has been awarded a grant from the Pasqual Maragall Researchers Programme to lead a project focused on studying the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The study will combine in vitro and human models of familial Alzheimer’s disease to identify age-related factors and potential inhibitors that could slow the early progression of the disease. The project was presented at an informative session on sleep and brain health, which was attended by around 500 people.

IBEC and the Lluís Vives Institute in Barcelona join forces to incorporate scientific research into the school 

As part of the Magnet programme. The Partnerships for Educational Success initiative, a collaboration between the Bioengineering Institute of Catalonia (IBEC) and a secondary school in Sants, promotes the integration of research into students’ skills-based learning. With the support of IBEC researchers and training for the teaching staff, students work on real scientific projects on health, the human body, cell biology, and the environment, among other topics.

Three IBEC projects receive ERC Proof of Concept funding to drive innovation in health, neuroscience, and biomedical technology 

Dr Benedetta Bolognesi, Dr Irene Marco-Rius and Dr Nicolò Accanto, who are all principal investigators at IBEC, have each been awarded a prestigious ERC Proof of Concept grant. These grants are awarded by the European Research Council to support the exploration of the commercial and societal potential of research projects conducted within European institutions. The three winning projects range from new platforms for discovering antiamyloid drugs, to advanced metabolic analysis technologies, to optical tools for studying the brains of animals moving naturally.