Group leader
IBEC researchers joined the activities of European Researchers’ Night 2026, held at CosmoCaixa and the Gabriel García Márquez Library last week. With activities on magnets, bacteria, nanoparticles and light, the aim was to showcase excellent research, spark interest in science and show how scientific work has an impact on people’s everyday lives.
The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) has installed a new POLARIS system in Barcelona, one of the first two quantum-enhanced MRI systems deployed under the EU-funded Q-AID project, alongside a twin installation at the University of Antwerp. The system marks IBEC’s entry into a four-year, €8.3 million European initiative to build a shared platform for quantum-enhanced metabolic imaging.
Las becas de la Fundación ‘la Caixa’ espolean las carreras investigadoras en el ámbito de la salud. Irene Marco: “Sin esta beca, seguramente no habría vuelto a España”.
The BIST Forum 2026 brought together scientists and representatives from academic, economic and social institutions to discuss how frontier research can help build Europe’s industries of the future. The event also announced the recipients of the BIST To the Mothers of Science and Ignite programmes.
In a significant advancement for lab-on-chip technology, IBEC researchers in the frame of the European project BLOC, have demonstrated the first integration of a benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer with a microfluidic cell culture platform capable of real-time metabolic monitoring, made feasible by employing quantum-enhanced NMR techniques to dramatically increase signal sensitivity. Metabolic analysis … Read more
IBEC researcher Amayra Hernández-Vega has been awarded a grant from the Pasqual Maragall Researchers Programme to lead a project focused on studying the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The study will combine in vitro and human models of familial Alzheimer’s disease to identify age-related factors and potential inhibitors that could slow the early progression of the disease. The project was presented at an informative session on sleep and brain health, which was attended by around 500 people.
Dr Benedetta Bolognesi, Dr Irene Marco-Rius and Dr Nicolò Accanto, who are all principal investigators at IBEC, have each been awarded a prestigious ERC Proof of Concept grant. These grants are awarded by the European Research Council to support the exploration of the commercial and societal potential of research projects conducted within European institutions. The three winning projects range from new platforms for discovering antiamyloid drugs, to advanced metabolic analysis technologies, to optical tools for studying the brains of animals moving naturally.
Irene Marco fue becada por la Fundación ”la Caixa” en dos ocasiones. La primera, para cursar un máster en Biofísica en la Universidad de Heidelberg (Alemania). La segunda, para desarrollar su investigación posdoctoral en Biología Molecular y Bioquímica en el IBEC. Esta es su historia contada a la periodista y escritora Llucia Ramis.
Barcelona hosted the third IBEC-WCH Precision Medicine Conference this week, an event that further strengthened the strategic alliance between the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the West China Hospital of Sichuan University (WCHSU). The Chinese delegation visited Spain from 26 to 29 November, taking part in a busy schedule of scientific and institutional activities and exchanges between the two centres.
The 18th annual IBEC Symposium focused on ‘Bioengineering for Precision Medicine’, which is one of IBEC’s key areas of application. The event was attended by nearly 300 people, including local and international researchers. The multidisciplinary environment provided experts from other centres and the IBEC community with the opportunity to present their projects and exchange knowledge.