IBEC researcher Javier Ramón Azcón has been awarded an “ERC Proof of Concept Grant.” This prestigious funding is granted by the European Research Council to explore the commercial and societal potential of research projects conducted in European institutions. Ramón’s project, Uniink, is centered on the treatment of Type 1 diabetes using cell therapy and 3D bioprinting.
Coinciding with World Diabetes Day, researchers from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) reveal a study that combines muscle and pancreatic cells on a single chip and demonstrates that … Read more
IBEC’s Dr. Javier Ramón is one of just six researchers in Catalonia to have been awarded a 2016 Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC).The senior researcher in the Biomimetic Systems for Cell Engineering group won funding for his project ‘Diabetes Approach by Multi-Organ-on-a-Chip’ (DAMOC) from Europe’s most prestigious funding body.
With the support, which will last for up to five years, Javier will start a new line to design a innovative new tool to test drugs for diabetes. As well as improving drug testing approaches, the multi-organ-on-a-chip device will provide new therapies to prevent the loss of beta cell mass and defects in the glucose uptake in skeletal muscle associated with type 2 diabetes.
“This project will give me the opportunity to have a multidisciplinary group of researchers working together from the beginning in a synchronized way, the most rewarding experience that a researcher can have,” he says.