BioNanoMed Catalunya brings together 18 research centres, hospitals and companies to share know-how and resources, facilitate new developments in nanomedicine and gain international visibility for the advances in nanotechnology that are emerging in Catalonia. Along with Biocat, the Catalan Bioregion agency, IBEC has been developing the initiative since 2009. Among the 37 research groups involved in the alliance are IBEC’s Bio/Non-bio Interactions for Regenerative Medicine, Cellular Biomechanics, Nanobioengineering, and Nanoprobes and Nanoswitches groups.
The alliance’s new website, www.bionanomedcat.org, was also presented at the press conference. It aims to become a benchmark site in Catalan bionanomedicine, featuring qualitative information on the companies and organizations active in the field, documents and news. “The next ten years will be key in transforming the results of bionanomedical research into more effective diagnostic systems and therapies, new tools to improve the environment or more efficient industrial production systems in the biotechnology sector,” said IEC associate director Josep Samitier. “ It is both a great challenge and a great opportunity that depends in part on our ability to coordinate strategies and establish cooperative links.”
Other research institutes involved in the alliance include Vall d’Hebron’s Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Research Center for Nanomedicine (CIBBIM-Nanomedicine), Hospital Clínic and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL). The network’s first public activities will include a presentation at the EuroNanoForum at the end of May in Budapest and participation in Washington’s BIO Convention in June.
