The presentation ceremony for the Solidarity Nougat Grants by RAC1 and Torrons Vicens took place yesterday. In this second edition, the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) has been selected to co-lead two of the twelve winning projects. The 2025 call aims to stimulate research and innovation in rare paediatric diseases at the SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital, as part of the ‘ÚNICAS’ project.
On Monday 29 September, the SJD Paediatric Cancer Centre hosted the awards ceremony for the second edition of the Solidarity Nougat Grants by RAC1 and Torrons Vicens. The initiative is part of the ‘ÚNICAS’ project, which aims to promote research and innovation in rare paediatric diseases at the SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital. Twelve grants were awarded this year, two of which will be co-led by IBEC researchers together with SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital professionals acting as principal investigators. Each project has been awarded €25,000 and will last a maximum of one year.
One of the winning projects aims to develop a microfluidic platform capable of controlling and monitoring the electrical activity of cardiac cells in real time, providing a clinical model for studying unmet catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, a rare paediatric arrhythmia. This project is led by Dr Georgia Sarquella from the IRSJD and co-lead by Dr Elisabeth Engel, the principal investigator of the IBEC’s Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies group.
Another grant has been awarded for research into characterising neuromuscular junctions in cell cultures to advance drug screening for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a hereditary disorder affecting the peripheral nerves. This project is led by Dr Lara Cantarero from the IRSJD and co-directed by Dr Josep Samitier, the principal investigator of the Nanobioengineering group at IBEC.
Since the initiative began two years ago, IBEC has been awarded a total of five projects.
In his speech at the event, IBEC director Josep Samitier emphasised the importance of collaboration between research centres and leading hospitals to achieve excellence that has a tangible impact on people’s lives.
2025 marks ten years since Torrons Vicens and RAC1 launched their charitable initiative of making and selling the Solidarity Nougat, with the aim of allocating the funds raised to research rare paediatric diseases. The 2025 call for proposals once again highlights the commitment to collaborative work — a strength of the strategic relationship between SJD and IBEC. This relationship has led to numerous joint projects in areas such as bioengineering and translational medicine, a shared doctoral programme, and the co-organisation of Nano Rare Diseases Day — a leading conference in the field of rare diseases — for six consecutive years.
These new grants further strengthen the link between the two institutions as a driving force for innovation, offering new diagnostic and treatment opportunities for patients with rare paediatric diseases.
