At the IGTP TODAY

News

- Projects, Research

The IGTP participates in a pioneer EU project to investigate micro and nanoplastics impact and consequences on human health

PLASTICHEAL project will develop new methodologies and will provide reliable scientific evidence for regulators to set the knowledge basis for adequate risk assessment. The results will draw a variety of experimental human models and measuring potential health effects under short and long-term conditions. The researchers at the IGTP will focus on the study of the affect of plastics to the immune response to different microorganisms.

- Research

Advancing sequencing and computational methods to identify genetic and phenotypic variations in Staphylococcus aureus from patients on mechanical ventilation

The Innovation in Respiratory Infections and Tuberculosis Diagnosis Group have used powerful genomics and computational tools to look at the genomes and phenotypes of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from patients on mechanical ventilation, suffering from different types of infection. The study, published in Toxins, identifies differences that could help doctors better manage patients with S. aureus infections in the future

- Research

Protein or mRNA? Which will be the future for TB diagnosis?

In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology members of the Innovation in Respiratory Infections and Tuberculosis Diagnosis Group tested a new diagnostic technique developed in Denmark. The technique performed to similar standards as the tests currently in use. Researchers are aiming to develop a better tool to detect latent cases of tuberculosis (TB).

- Research

The first projects on SARS-CoV-2 in lab-designed mini human organs gets underway

The Centre for Comparative Medicine and Bioimage of Catalonia (CMCiB), of the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), will be the second centre in Catalonia to work on the SARS-CoV-2 virus obtained directly from patients. Until now most work has taken place with artificial viruses that can only infect once. Research staff of IrsiCaixa and the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) have started to work on the virus in the CMCiB to study the infection of organoids; mini organs designed in the laboratory to simulate human lungs and brains. Organoids are already being used in research and their use in studies into COVID-19 will provide better understanding of infection by SARS-CoV-2 and the capacity of different drugs to eliminate it from these tissues.

- Projects, Research

Full marks for the mid-term meeting of the European Project INNOVA4TB coordinated from the IGTP

At the start of Julio the mid-tem meeting of the European project "Innovation in Tuberculosis-INNOVA4TB", designed and coordinated by the Innovation in Respiratory Infections and Tuberculosis Diagnosis research group led by Dr José Dominguez and Cristina Prat took place. INNOVA4TB is a European Project focused on the diagnosis and clinical handling of tuberculosis financed by a Marie Skłodowska Curie award.

- Projects, Research

Russian doll drug delivery technology is also effective against Staphylococcus aureus infections

Researchers from the Innovation in Respiratory Infections and Tuberculosis Diagnosis Group at the IGTP have successfully used their Russian doll nanoparticle technology for antibiotic delivery against a second micro-organism. This study demonstrates that the use of nanoparticles is a potentially powerful weapon against a variety of diseases caused by infectious bacteria.

- Innovation, Research

The IGTP participates in an international project to validate serological tests for COVID-19

The Innovation in Respiratory Infection and Tuberculosis Diagnosis research group led by Dr José Dominguez and Dr Cristina Prat Aymerich have started a collaboration with the team led by Dr Lluis Cuevas at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to develop and validate new serological techniques for diagnosing COVID-19. The project is financed by the Wellcome Trust (UK).

- Research

A team including researchers at the IGTP confirm new ways to test and treat TB by harnessing the body’s own defences

In new study in a cohort of patients from Southern Europe, researchers including the innovation in Respiratory Infections and Tuberculosis Diagnosis Group at the IGTP have confirmed the importance of exploring immune pathways other than the ones modulated by interferon-gamma, which is the one that has been most studied in work on TB until now. The study published in Frontiers of Immunology has also hinted at ways to differentiate between latent and active TB, a major goal in the battle against the disease.

- Research

Scientists from Germans Trias publish data on the negative effects of vaping on the immune response to tuberculosis infections

Scientists from the Innovation in Respiratory Infections and Tuberculosis Diagnosis Group at the IGTP and the Microbiology Service at the Germans Trias Hospital have published a paper in PLOS One on negative effects of vapour from e-cigarettes on the immune response against tuberculosis (TB). The results describe the effect of the vapour specifically on TB infection and they support the need for policies to reduce exposure to both smoke and e-vapour as part of strategies to control TB.