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 14.12.2020

Researchers from CNAG and IRB Barcelona receive funding from La Marató 2019 for rare diseases

Ninety-one leading rare diseases scientific teams will receive funding from the 2019 edition of La Marató de TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio to conduct 41 research projects of excellence. Among the selected proposals there are two involving scientists linked to the Barcelona Science Park: Jens Lüders from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), and Sergi Beltran from the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG–CRG). 

The 2019 edition of La Marató de TV3 and Catalunya Radio, dedicated to rare diseases, reached a final total income of €14,053,915, the second highest in the history of this charity programme. The Foundation will fund 41 research projects that are best valued among the 228 that were presented. International scientific experts in rare diseases reviewed the candidate applications, according to their quality, methodology and relevance, in a process of evaluation co-ordinated by the Catalan Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Research (AQuAS). Ninety-one selected scientific teams will work over the next three years to find answers in rare diseases.

Projects involving researchers from the PCB Community

Sergi Beltran, head of Bioinformatics Unit and the Data Analysis Team at the CNAG-CRG, has received 300,000 euros jointly with Juan Ramón González Ruiz at IS Global to develop innovative solutions to facilitate in-depth genomic and cross-omics analysis of molecularly undiagnosed rare disease patients.  

The project aims to discover novel causative genes and enable the diagnosis of rare disease patients. The efforts will build on the Undiagnosed Rare Disease Program of Catalonia (URD-Cat) project and platform, in collaboration with many hospital research groups in Catalonia. More information » CNAG-CRG website [+]

From left to right, Sergi Beltran (CNAG-CRG) and Jens Lüders (IRB Barcelona).

From left to right, Sergi Beltran (CNAG-CRG) and Jens Lüders (IRB Barcelona).

Another of the funded projects was proposed by Jens Lüders, head of IRB Barcelona’s Microtubule Organization Lab, and it involves two additional partners, Dr. Dunja Lukovic (Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, Spain) and Prof. Dr. Melanie Philipp (University of Tübingen, Germany).

Together, they will use cells donated by patients, and also organoids and zebrafish to elucidate the underlying mechanisms that lead to the health problems in Cohen Syndrome. More information » IRB Barcelona  website [+]

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