From African clawed frog oocytes… to drugs that are activated by light Blog Post

The Live Research Fair, which opens its doors today at CosmoCaixa Barcelona until Saturday 14 April, aims to raise public awareness of research by opening up dialogue between the community and researchers and encouraging young people to consider scientific professions. The event has been organized by the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) –as part of its Research in Society programme– and “la Caixa” Foundation, with the support of Barcelona City Council and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), and the collaboration of the University of Barcelona (UB).

 

Salvador Aznar Benitah receives an ERC Advanced Grant worth €2.5 M Blog Post

The European Research Council (ERC), a pan-European public organisation that funds research projects, has awarded Salvador Aznar Benitah, ICREA researcher and head of the Stem Cells and Cancer laboratory at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), an Advanced Grant worth €2.5 to continue his studies on the effects of diet on metastasis. With this new award, the centre –located at the Barcelona Science Park– now holds 14 grants from the ERC.

 

New Born Solutions creates the first non-invasive 3-second screening device for infant meningitis Blog Post

The Catalan start-up New Born Solutions has created the first non-invasive screening device for infant meningitis to work in only three seconds. Headquartered in the Barcelona Science Park, the company is one of twenty beneficiaries of the ACCIÓ Startup Capital grant—a cash injection of up to 75,000 euros intended to promote the growth of emerging technology companies—with the product expected to be marketed in 2020.

 

The Fem Talent 2018 Awards recognize Judit Anido and ProteoDesign Blog Post

Two companies based in the Barcelona Science Park have been recognized in this year’s edition of the Fem Talent awards. Dr Judit Anido, co-founder and CEO of Mosaic Biomedicals, has received the “Emerging Talent” award, and the company ProteoDesign –created by Silvia Frutos, Miquel Vila-Perelló, Silvia Frutos, Marc Montserrat and Tom W. Muir– has been a finalist in the ‘Organisation with Fem Talent Values’ category.

 

CRG and Eugin sign a collaboration agreement on molecular research applied to assisted reproduction Blog Post

The Eugin Group, present in the Barcelona Science Park, and the Centre for Genomic Regulation of Barcelona (CRG) have signed a partnership agreement in molecular research applied to assisted reproduction. According to this alliance, four research groups from CRG will work together with the Eugin R&D team led by Dr Rita Vassena to carry out research on issues related to the effects of the ageing of eggs or vaginal mycobiota.

 

IRB Barcelona paves the way to the use of immunotherapy to treat aggressive colon tumours and their metastasis Blog Post

A team headed by ICREA researcher Eduard Batlle, from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) at the Barcelona Science Park, discovers that immune system-stimulating treatments combined with a TGF-beta inhibitor are effective against colon cancer. In a study published today in the journal Nature, scientifics explain that the hormone TGF-beta is responsible for the “blindness” of the immune system to colon cancer cells. The work paves the way for the development of the first treatment based on immunotherapy for patients with metastatic colon cancer and for those patients with poor prognosis but who have not yet developed metastasis.

 

The oxidation process favours recovery after a spine injury Blog Post

The inflammatory response and oxidation after a nerve injury could favour the regeneration of axons (prolongation of neurons). This is the most relevant conclusion of a pre-clinical study published in the journal Nature Cell Biology, with the participation of researchers from the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) at the Barcelona Science Park. This work, carried out in collaboration with scientifics from the Imperial College London, suggests that the indiscriminate use of antioxidant therapies on nerve injuries should be examined, since these could block the body’s own regenerative response.

 

Registration open for the 10th edition of the Summer School on Medicines Blog Post

The 10th Summer School on Medicines (SSM10) will be held in Brazil, in Ribeirão Preto (São Paulo), from March 16–23. The Barcelona Science Park collaborates one more year in this initiative –one of the most innovative and results-oriented programs offered internationally in pharmaceutical sector– organised by the Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Biocat, la Université de Montréal (UdeM) i la Universitat Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier.