At the IGTP TODAY
The Neurogenetics research group, led by Dr Antoni Matilla is performing an experiment at the ALBA Synchrotron to obtain for the first time 3D images of cells with this disease. Friedreich's ataxia affects more than 3,000 people in Spain, causing serious mobility problems and other severe illnesses such as heart disease. At present there is no treatment to prevent or cure the disease
Dr Jordi Casabona has presented the RIGHT-PLUS Network at the New approaches to monitor HIV services and accelerate the response to HIV among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Latin America Symposium, organized by the WHO within the International AIDS Society meeting (IAS 2019) that took place in Mexico City from 21 to 24 July. Dr Casabona is Scientific Direct.or of the CEEISCAT, a research group affiliated with the IGTP.
Three research groups at the IGTP have received three of the 21 grants in the 2019 call for CaixaImpulse, awarded by the "la Caixa" Foundation. The projects receiving the awards are led by Dr Katrin Beyer, Dr Francesc Borràs and Dr Alicia Martínez-Piñeiro and focus on improving the diagnostics for with Lewy body dementia; new non-invasive methods for monitoring renal dysfunction and new predictive markers for acute ischemic stroke respectively.
The Regulatory Genomics Group at the IGTP and the IJC has developed a new method to make checking whether samples that have had RNA sequenced are from related individuals. They have shown that it can be used on large data sets of RNA sequencing information to check if samples are from related individuals or not, or to reconstruct family trees.
The Centre for Comparative Medicine and Bioimage (CMCiB) now forms part of the Working Group on European 3Rs Centres. This literally puts it on the map, for European 3Rs Research and it has been included in the Norwegian NORECOPA website, which is currently the largest resource on European 3rs Research available. The Working Group is preparing the setting up of a European 3Rs Center Network to promote and facilitate ethical research.
On 22 August the IGTP received the HR Excellence in Research Award (HRS4R) from the European Commission (EC). The Commission's human resource strategy is aimed at aligning HR policies across European research institutions with the goal of making the movement of researchers between institutions easier and conditions fairer. The IGTP can use the HRS4R logo to identify itself as one of the 490 organizations now recognized as working towards this goal.
Researchers from the research project "Fats and Cancer" took part in the 32nd Cabrils Gastronomy Fair in August. The project is a collaboration between professionals from the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) and the Germans Trias Pujol Hospital and Research Institute and will educate and find funding through the fundraising organization "Amics de Can Ruti" (the Friends of Can Ruti). The aim is to raise awareness about the need for new horizons in cancer research and for cancer patients and the connection between the metabolism of fats in the body and the appearance and evolution of cancer.
Two students have been awarded INPhINIT grants by “la Caixa” Foundation to complete their PhDs on the Can Ruti Campus. Emma Koehorst, has been working on Myotonic Dystrophy in the Neuromuscular and Neuropaediatric research group led by Gisela Nogales at the IGTP since last September. Ifeanyi Ezeonwumelu has started working at the IrsiCaixa on novel therapeutic strategies for HIV with Dr Ester Ballana Guix in the HIV Pathogenesis Group, led by Dr José A Esté.
This July the Government of Catalonia officially approved the Plan for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis in Catalonia, which aims to facilitate the adoption and implementation of measures to reduce the number of cases and the morbidity and mortality associated with this infection. This is in line with the goal of the WHO, which aims to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030. The plan is the result of healthcare and public health professionals, experts, representatives of scientific societies and organizations and patients and families associations all working together.
The Director of the Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Manel Puig and the Director of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Raquel Yotti have put their formal seal on the starting up of the Comparative Medicine and Bioimage Centre of Catalonia (CMCiB). The CMCiB is a centre built on the Can Ruti Campus by the IGTP with the aim of being a reference centre for comparative medicine, bioimaging and computational models and a pioneer in applying alternative methods for biomedical research that impacts on the health of the population. The facilities of the centre include latest generation operating theatres that are adaptable for continued training, perfecting new surgical techniques and development of new surgical devices.
