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Opening of the Catalan Reference Centre for Bioengineering, which includes the UB-UPC Nanobioengineering Laboratory

By 15 de December de 2003November 18th, 2020No Comments
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 15.12.2003

Opening of the Catalan Reference Centre for Bioengineering, which includes the UB-UPC Nanobioengineering Laboratory

The complexity of the new challenges posed by biomedical research have given rise to the need for multidisciplinary projects, in which physicians, chemists, computer experts and engineers work hand in hand with physicians and biologists in the so-called field of biomedical engineering or bioengineering; a field that is currently making an extraordinary contribution to advances in medical knowledge.

In this regard, Monday 15 December marked the opening of the Centre de Referència de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (CREBEC, Catalan Reference Centre for Bioengineering). Promoted by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Autonomous Government of Catalonia), this centre aims to coordinate the multidisciplinary research activities in biomedical engineering carried out in Catalonia. The opening ceremony, held in the Auditorium of the Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB, Barcelona Science Park) was presided by Andreu Mas-Colell, interim Minister of Universities, Research and the Information Society. The event was also attended by Joan Tugores , rector of the UB, Josep Ferrer, rector of the UPC and Josep A. Planell, director of the CREBEC.

One of the research fields promoted by the CREBEC is the application of nanotechnologies to biomedicine, a multidisciplinary field of research known as nanobiotechnology. This line of research focuses on the current need to develop more specific and less invasive analytical systems for medical and environmental applications. Some of the multiple applications offered by this research include the building of minuscule machines with atoms and molecules, the manufacture of chips for the separation of samples at molecular level and the design of microchips that can be coupled to human tissue to detect possible changes in cellular electrical currents.

Biomedical engineering at nanoscale in the CREBEC is undertaken in the , whose head offices are located in the PCB.