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Bioengineering to fight Covid-19

Yesterday took place the kick-off meeting of the european project MAD-CoV 2, in which participates the group led by ICREA Research Professor Núria Montserrat at IBEC.

Under the name of “Modern approaches for developing antivirals against SARS-CoV 2” (MAD-CoV 2) the project focuses on the development and delivery of therapeutic tools for the current COVID-19 outbreak.

IBEC alumni Riccardo Levato, awarded with an ERC starting grant

Since its foundation in 2006, IBEC has been growing and consolidating as a leading research center. This has only been possible thanks to the work, talent, commitment and motivation of each and every one of the people who are and have been part of IBEC’s big family.

Now, Riccardo Levato, former researcher at IBEC, has been awarded with an ERC starting grant at UMC Utrecht to develop his project named “VOLUME-BIO”.  

Back to school, back to the lab!

The holidays are over and it’s time to go back to work, also for our youngest and curious minds of the students that visit us every year. Despite the situation we are experiencing due to the coronavirus outbreak, at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) we are making an effort to resume some of our outreach activities in person.

In this sense, the IBEC laboratories have reopened the doors for the students participating in the “Bojos per la Bioenginyeria” and the “Batx2Lab” programs, adapting to this “new normality”.

Bioengineering against cancer: IBEC researchers receive funding from La Caixa

IBEC researchers Elena Martínez, Xavier Trepat and Pere Roca-Cusachs aim to understand the processes that promote metastasis in colorectal cancer using innovative bioengineering tools, such as bioprinting and microscopy capable of revealing forces at the cellular level.

The results will be translated into a device that will recreate the tumor environment from cancer cells derived from patients, as well as a new technology that will allow to visualize how physical forces affect the nuclei of metastatic cells.

Maria Demestre, a senior expert in neuromuscular connections and diseases, joins IBEC from Germany

Maria Demestre, a senior scientist and expert in defining molecular alterations and neurophysiological factors in neurons, and skeletal muscle and neuromuscular connections leading to diseases, joins IBEC within the Smart Nano-Bio-Devices group.

In a recent paper led by Ulm University in Germany and co-authored and co-led by Demestre, researchers describe the effect of SHANK3 protein on muscle tissues of patients with autism disorder.

IBEC technology against malaria gets new impulse

The project led by IBEC researcher Elena Lantero from Nanomalaria IBEC-ISGlobal Joint Group, gets funding from CaixaImpulse Validate program to develop a new technology for rapid, cheap and efficient diagnosis of a disease which threats millions of people worldwide.

Despite being preventable and treatable, malaria is an infectious disease that threatens the life of 3.2 billion people globally. Only in 2018, an estimated 228 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide, accounting for hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Josep Samitier, awarded with the Narcís Monturiol medal for his contribution to science and technology

The Catalan Government announced yesterday the Narcís Monturiol Medal award for scientific and technological merit to the Director of the IBEC, Josep Samitier Martí, for his contribution to the development of the Catalan system of science and technology.

In total, ten researchers from the Catalan knowledge system (six men and four women) have received this distinction, as well as a research center that has been awarded the Narcís Monturiol Plaque, which recognizes an institution in the country.