Institutional news

An IBEC group has been awarded EU funding to coordinate a project that aims to train through research a new generation of researchers in bio-orthogonal catalysis for cancer therapy. Thanks to the Marie Curie ITN funding, the twelve consortium members of the THERACAT European Training Network – located in Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland, UK and Israel – will be able to provide researchers with state-of-the-art multidisciplinary scientific training in the field of bio-orthogonal catalysis.

SOMMa, the alliance of Spain’s 25 Severo Ochoa centres – including IBEC – and 16 María de Maeztu units that aims to raise the national and international profile of science in the country, held a press launch on Monday at the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness in Madrid.

At the event, the representatives of SOMMa, together with the Secretary of State for R&D&I Carmen Vela, presented the new alliance. “Joining this alliance allows us to join forces, increase our impact and encourage collaboration and networking,” said Teresa García-Milà, vice-president of SOMMa and director of the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (BGSE). “In short, we are enriching the R&D system of this country in the long term.”

IBEC is one of the research centres that are transforming Barcelona into a global science hub: this was the rationale behind the visit on Thursday of 25 members of Barcelona Global, the association that aims to make Barcelona a magnet for talent and economic activity.

The delegates enjoyed a viewing of IBEC’s video, a general presentation of the institute from director Josep Samitier, and then a short tour of the some of IBEC’s laboratories.

The visit was part of an initiative to bring Barcelona Global’s members to the leading research centers in the city that are contributing to its status as a global science hub. As well as visiting IBEC, the delegates also went to the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.

The Spanish Platform for Nanomedicine (NanoMedSpain), managed by IBEC, is participating once again in the Annual Conference of Technological Platforms of Biomedical Research in Barcelona today and tomorrow.

This yearly conference, organised by the four national platforms – Innovative Medicines, Nanomedicine, Health Technology and Biotechnology Markets – presents the latest advances in -omics technology and digitalization in the health sector from the standpoint of biomedical research.

The seven BIST centres – including IBEC – have a stand at this year’s Youth Mobile Festival (YoMo), part of the Mobile World Congress that’s taking place this week.

The stand will feature different hands-on activities on different days, all of which will be based on the research being carried out in the BIST centres.

More than 15,000 youngsters are expected to pass through the festival, which is being held at La Farga in l’Hospitalet, during the festival’s run from today to Friday.

This was the moment that IBEC group leader Pere Roca-Cusachs received the City of Barcelona Award for the life sciences from Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.

The ceremony took place last night in the city council’s Saló de Cent, where the twenty winners of this year’s prizes, now in their 17th edition, were congratulated by Ms. Colau and Culture Commissioner Joan Subirats.

The prestigious City of Barcelona awards recognize outstanding creativity and research carried out in Barcelona that contribute to culture and society in the city.

Last Thursday evening saw the PCB’s Dolors Aleu room transformed into a riot of colour and sound when the Manipuri Dance Group from India took over the stage.

More than 120 people from the various organizations of the PCB enjoyed the spectacle of dance and music, which showcased six traditional Indian dances from the country’s northeastern Manipur region. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed some Indian food provided by the restaurant Zeeshan.

On Friday the IBEC-managed Spanish Nanotechnology Platform, NanoMed Spain, co-hosted the fifth edition of Nano World Cancer Day, a global initiative organized as part of World Cancer Day.

It’s the third year running that the platform has hosted the conference, which took place at the PCB and was opened by IBEC/NanoMed Spain’s Josep Samitier, who also gave a presentation about the platform.
The latest innovations in nanomedicine for cancer were presented and discussed in front of an audience of more than 90 researchers, clinicians, students and industry professionals, as well as journalists.