PhD Discussion sessions are open to all staff and researchers at all career stages, and are intended to help PhD students gain feedback from colleagues by presenting their research results and discussing them with each other, as well as with more experienced researchers.
Bioinformatics Barcelona (BIB) has officially launched its website, which details the bioinformatic activities of 40 partners – including IBEC – and over 80 research groups.IBEC’s Biomedical Signal Processing and Interpretation, Mechanics of development and disease and Signal and Information Processing for Sensing Systems groups are featured on the site, as they carry out bioinformatics-related activities such as algorithmics, biomedical informatics, biostatistics, or bioinformatics of disease and treatment.
RECERCAT, the research-related newsletter produced by the Generalitat, features an article about IBEC’s outreach activities in its latest edition. 
IBEC is celebrating its 9th annual IBEC Symposium today at Barcelona’s AXA Auditorium.This year the theme will be ‘Bioengineering for Active Ageing, which is one of the institute’s three main areas of application.
The global ageing population will have considerable consequences, but biomedical engineering can contribute greatly to improving the quality of life of older people. Assisted living technologies such as telecare, home-based devices and services that support daily life with a remote link to a call-centre, and telehealth – remote monitoring, consultation and diagnosis – can help support independent living at home, keeping patients out of hospital and residential care for longer. Advances in sensors, signal treatment, data analysis, robotics and intelligent control systems at IBEC are enabling the development of remote care or assisted living, so that people with dementia or long-term health conditions can remain in their own homes.
An article about Nuria Montserrat appeared in El Mundo on Tuesday following her invovlement in a recent study in which the first human heart grafts from human pluripotent stem cells were generated.
IBEC Director Josep Samitier and the Technology Transfer unit introduced IBEC’s 3D bioprinting capabilities at the first IN(3D)USTRY event, which was held in Barcelona last week.The first ever international meeting devoted to 3D printing, “IN(3D)USTRY: From Needs to Solutions” saw leading companies and other organisations showcase the innovations and opportunities that the new technology can offer to countless projects and processes.
The meeting, which was founded by Fira de Barcelona and HP, attracted professionals working in areas as diverse as as autos and aeronautics, architecture and habitat, retail and consumer goods and, of course, healthcare.
Researchers at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) have revealed a way to effectively deliver a mycobacterium needed for the treatment of bladder cancer in humans –using a formulation based on olive oil.The researchers have found a way to reduce the natural clumping that occurs when mycobacteria cells, which possess a high content of lipids in their walls, are introduced to the usual aqueous solutions that are used for intravesical instillation in bladder cancer patients. This clumping may interfere with the interaction of the mycobacteria-host cells and negatively influence their antitumor effects.
IBEC group leader and ICREA research professor Pau Gorostiza took part in the 17th Symposium of La Marató de TV3 this week, which was devoted to the celebration of the 30 research projects awarded funding by the telethon in 2010.The event at the Institut d’Estudis Catalans on Wednesday, which included a poster session open to the public, featured round tables of experts discussing the findings of the projects, which covered research into the understanding, treatment and prognosis acquired spinal cord and brain injuries.
At the event on 7th June, where Xavier shared the stage with the director of IRB Joan Guinovart, the relationship between scientists and journalists was discussed – a relationship that can sometimes be a little illusive, as journalist Cristina Saez put it, referring to the disagreements that can arise between the two sides when explaining science to the public. Along with fellow journalist Núria Jar, she introduced questions to the invited guests.
With 3D printing set to revolutionise research, IBEC researchers have been exploring the possibilities of using the new technology to already improve their processes and methods.IBEC recently became home to the first 3D bioprinter in Catalonia, which promises to open up exciting new avenues in tissue and organ regeneration. First, though, in a collaboration with the UPF, the CINVESTAV-Monterrey in Mexico, and the University of Washington, the Barcelona-based scientists developed a new way of producing microfluidic devices – systems in which low volumes of fluids are processed.