IRB Barcelona presents the “Alumni of Excellence Award” to David Vilchez Blog Post

Today the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelonahas presented David Vilchez, group leader at the CECAD-Cluster of Excellence in Cologne, Germany, with a commemorative certificate naming him as the first winner of the Alumni of Excellence Award. Vilchez obtained his PhD from IRB Barcelona in 2008, and three years ago he began his own group in Germany, where he has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant.

 

Ferrer, IBEC and Mind the Byte join forces to study new molecules against cancer metastasis Blog Post

The pharmaceutical company Ferrer has created a consortium with the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the bioinformatics company Mind the Byte, located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), to study the development of new therapeutic molecules against cancer metastasis. The work will follow the research on cadherin interaction and its role in cells that cause metastasis conducted by Dr. Xavier Trepat, ICREA professor at IBEC and one of the few scientists to have won three grants from the European Research Council (ERC).  

 

New strategy to obtain a specific type of amyloid-beta aggregate that may underlie neuronal death in Alzheimer’s disease Blog Post

Scientists from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) at Barcelona Science Park (PCB), in collaboration with researchers at Scientific and Technological Centers of the University of Barcelona (CCiTUB), the University of Leuven (Belgium) and the University of Groningen (the Netherlands), and the the, describes for the first time how to prepare a specific type of aggregate of the amyloid-beta protein with the ability to perforate the cell membrane. Interpreted in the context of Alzheimer´s disease, this discovery suggests that the aggregate can also perforate the membrane of neurons, alter the equilibrium of these cells, and trigger their death.

 

Cells move en masse towards rigid tissues Blog Post

In a study published today in the journal Science, researchers at IBEC, based at PCB, have shown that several types of cells are attracted to the most rigid areas of tissues. The discovery contradicts the traditional view that cell movement is guided primarily by variations in the chemical concentration of proteins and ions. The new phenomenon, collective durotaxis, opens new avenues to control tumor growth and improve wound healing.

 

David Bermúdez, new CEO of Intelligent Pharma Blog Post

Engineer, David Bermúdez, until now Director of Technology at Intelligent Pharma, has been appointed CEO of this biotech located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB). Bermúdez takes on this new challenge as of the 1st September and brings nearly twenty years of professional experience in research, development and leadership of innovative interdisciplinary projects in the field of ICT, artificial intelligence, supercomputing and drug design.

 

Sights set on the next generation of shuttle peptides to target the brain Blog Post

IRB Barcelona scientists Benjamí Oller, Macarena Sánchez, Ernest Giralt, and Meritxell Teixidó, all from the Peptides and Proteins Lab of the Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Programme, have written a review on the emerging field of shuttle peptides—molecules that have the capacity to transport drugs across the blood-brain barrier and thus treat diseases affecting the central nervous system. The article will be featured on the cover of September’s issue of Chemical Society Reviews.

 

Researchers at IRB Barcelona discover the hidden potential of disordered proteins Blog Post

Prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s…these three diseases are associated with proteins that share a common feature, namely disordered regions that have no apparent rigid three-dimensional structure. In spite of the potential of these regions as therapeutic targets, it was believed that drugs could not be directed to them. But now scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), based at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), have rediscovered their utility as drug targets. 

 

The Biotechnology Business Institute expands its masters programs Blog Post

Following the success of the Master in Project Management applied to biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry –which is now in the third edition–and the growing professional demand for health science profiles with knowledge in applied management, the Biotechnology Business Institute -based at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)- is expanding its continuing education offer with two new programs: the Master in Marketing Management and the Master in Business Management.

 

Two proteins safeguard skin stem cells Blog Post

A study led by ICREA researcher Salvador Aznar Benitah and undertaken at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) based at PCB has identified two proteins that are fundamental to conserve skin stem cells and has shown that without these proteins these cells are lost. The study, which has been published in Cell Stem Cell, has involved Luciano Di Croce’s group at the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG).