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Institutional news

Three researchers from IBEC awarded with grants from “la Caixa” for their pioneering and high social impact research

José Antonio del Río, Pau Gorostiza, and Samuel Sánchez have been awarded in two of the “la Caixa” calls.

José Antonio del Río, principal investigator of the Molecular and Cellular Neurobiotechnology Group at IBEC, is one of the winners of the second edition of the call for applications in biomedicine and health. Del Río’s project focuses on analysing the molecular mechanisms involved in the genesis and propagation of tau protein in brain cells. This protein is linked with several neurodegenerative processes and is present in numerous diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Pau Gorostiza, principal investigator of the Nanoprobes and Nanoswitches Group, also received an award at the second edition of the call for applications for research projects in biomedicine and health. In this case, for his project on degenerative eye conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa, which causes blindness due to the progressive degeneration of the cones and rods, which are the light sensitive cells.

IBEC researcher awarded with an ERC Starting Grant to fight tuberculosis

IBEC researcher Loris Rizzello receives 1.5 million Euros from the prestigious ERC Starting Grant for his PANDORA project, focused on creating a new therapy to eradicate tuberculosis.

Last September 3rd the European Research Council (ERC) announced the projects awarded with an “ERC Starting Grant”. Among the 408 projects selected is the PANDORA project of Dr. Loris Rizzello, a researcher of the Nanobioengineering group of the IBEC led by Prof. Josep Samitier.
The PANDORA project of Dr. Rizzello aims to revolutionize the way we cure infections caused by intracellular pathogens, finding a universal therapy able to attack infectious diseases and, at the same time, avoiding antibiotic resistance. More specifically, the winning project of the prestigious ERC Starting Grant will seek solutions that help eradicate tuberculosis, one of the worst pandemics so far, identifying the molecular “barcode” of infected cells, in order to design polymeric nanoparticles that selectively attack infected cells, without affecting healthy cells.

International experts in Bioengineering meet in Barcelona on the occasion of the 12th IBEC Symposium

On Wednesday July 17th, the 12th IBEC Annual Symposium was held at the Hotel Catalonia Plaza in Barcelona. With the participation of more than 300 assistants and the exhibition of more than 102 scientific posters, this year, the event focused on Bioengineering for active aging – one of the three main research areas of IBEC- and had the participation of three MIT speakers (Massachusets Institute of Technology), among others.

“Active aging” or “healthy life expectancy” is an indicator defined by WHO as the equivalent in years of life that individuals are expected to live in good health, and that is approximately a world average of 10 years Less than life expectancy. In recent years, researchers from around the world have put their attention on this indicator, because life expectancy is increasing and also the possibility of suffering diseases associated with aging, which puts the current health system at risk that will have to strengthen its effectiveness in the areas of health promotion and prevention.

IBEC and TU/e celebrate the second symposium as a result of the partnership between both research centers

Three members of the ICMS have participated at the second IBEC-ICMS symposium, celebrated last 16th July at the Barcelona Science Park. The event aimed to identify synergies and potential for collaboration between IBEC groups and the researchers of the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS), a research institute of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e).

Josep Samitier, director of IBEC, and Jan van Hest director of ICMS opened the symposium by welcoming more than 80 participants from both institutions. Two IBEC group leaders, Vito Conte and Lorenzo Albertazzi, already have dual appointments with ICMS.

Five IBEC PhD’s have obtained la Caixa fellowships

This Friday took place at CosmoCaixa Barcelona the diploma award ceremony of the INPhINT PhD fellowships granted by Fundació bancaria “La Caixa”. The call received more than 1.100 applications and only 77 where selected for a total value of more than 9 million euros.

Núria Montserrat represents the european research council at the world economic forum in China

The researcher Núria Montserrat accompanies the president of the European Research Council (ERC) together with a selection of the best European researchers, at the Summer Davos annual Meeting, organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF). She has participated in several forums about how to work on more prosperous future and she explained how the research in organ regeneration that she is currently undertaking at IBEC can help in the fight against cancer.

The Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC) also known as Summer Davos, is one of the events that brings together the brightest minds on the planet to discuss issues related to scientific research, leadership, and innovation. On this occasion, the forum was from 1 to 3 July and was held in the Chinese city of Dailan with the participation of the European delegation composed of its president, the mathematician Jean-Pierre Bourguignon and ten of the most outstanding European scientists.

IBEC researchers lead a European project to develop a high resolution 3D bioprinting technology

A group of experts at Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) lead the European project BRIGHTER (Bioprinting by light-sheet lithography: engineering complex tissues with high resolution at high speed), an initiative to develop an innovative and high resolution 3D bioprinting technology able to produce functional tissues.

Santiago Marco is the new vice-president of the International Society for Olfaction and Chemical Sensing

Santiago Marco, group leader of the Signal and information processing for sensing systems research group at IBEC has recently been appointed vice-president for the next two years of the International Society for Olfaction and Chemical Sensing (ISOCS) during the general assembly held at the International Symposium on Olfaction and Electronic Nose Conference (ISOEN) in ACROS, Fukuoka, Japan.

The ISOCS was launched in May 2008 by the Network of Excellence General Olfaction and Sensing Projects on a European Level (GOSPEL), the EU Network of Excellence in artificial olfaction, and Santiago Marco is one of its founding partners.

IBEC welcomes three new Associated researchers

Three new Associated researchers have affiliated to IBEC this year. Professor Jordi Alcaraz joined last January and both professors Carlos Alemán and Jordi Puiggalí this past April.

Associated researchers are university professors seconded to IBEC who are working on topics that are of interest or complementary to our research areas. They participate in IBEC’s scientific strategy, academic activities and support initiatives, and have the option to submit project proposals and papers with IBEC affiliation. Recruitment is carried out according to several criteria such as scientific excellence and alignment with IBEC’s institutional strategy. Associated researchers are approved by the Scientific Advisory Board, which evaluates their performance on a regular basis.

José Antonio del Río presents the results about his research at the 20th Symposium of “La Marató de TV3”

José Antonio del Río, group leader of the Molecular and cellular neurobiotechnology group at IBEC, presented at the 20th Symposium of “La Marató de TV3”, the results of his research on neurodegenerative diseases boosted by the funds of “La Marató” in 2013.

During the event, which took place this weed at the “Institut d’Estudis Catalans”, it has been made public the results of the 79 research teams that have carried out the 44 financed projects by the 2013 edition of this program. A set of achievements targeted to design new tools of prevention and diagnostic, as well as new therapeutic approaches to improve the quality and life expectancy of the patients that suffer a neurodegenerative disease. .