At the IGTP TODAY

News

- Research

The ”la Caixa” Foundation provides funding to two innovation projects at the IGTP to accelerate development

The "la Caixa" Foundation aims to bring 20 new biomedical projects with large social  impacts to the market more rapidly within the framework of the CaixaResearch Validate and Consolidate 2021 calls. Two of this year's projects are led by groups from the IGTP. The programme aims to boost innovation and technological and knowledge transfer in the field of biomedicine and health and create new companies based on research

- Projects, Research

An ISGlobal Project on Malaria Vivax at the IGTP will Receive Funding from the CaixaResearch Programme

The project, led by Hernando A del Portillo, is one of the 30 projects selected from over 600 proposals presented in the 2021 call. The "CaixaResearch" programme on Health Research has selected 30 new cutting-edge biomedical research projects in Spain and Portugal, including the one led by Hernando A del Portillo, ICREA researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and co-affiliated with the Germans Trias i Pujol Institute (IGTP).

- Projects, Research

First event for European Performing Science Night completed

A total of 23 researchers have taken part in the first event of the European project European Performing Science Night (EPSN) part of European Researcher's Night a European public event that brings scientists and society together. All three research groups on the camps taking part in the project participated in the workshop.

- Institutional, Research

For the second year running an IGTP PhD Student is awarded the prize for the best research paper by the ICS

The Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) has celebrated its annual research workshop, where the ICS Research Prizes have also been announced. This year, for the second year running, the best research paper by a PhD student has been awarded to a student at the IGTP. The prize for the best research paper by a predoctoral student 2021 was presented to Juan Carrillo-Reixach and Dr Mireia Ramos- Rodríguez received the prize awarded in 2020.

The IGTP celebrates its Scientific Retreat in a mixed format focused on research and innovation

The Second IGTP Retreat took place on 14 and 15 June in a mixed format broadcast from the Badalona International Business Centre (BCIN). Around 50 researchers attended the sessions within the current social distancing rules while close to 200 joined the event online and participated in the lively question sessions. The call to use the research power of academia to improve public health in the keynote speech was continued through the event and the presentations showcased a wide range of examples of success stories.

- Research

Multiparameter Flow cytometry shines a light on interactions between human spleen cells and extracellular vesicles from Plasmodium vivax patients

The Plasmodium vivax and Exosome Research Group (PVREX) has worked closely with the Cytometry Core Facility of the IGTP to use multiparameter cytometry combined with cell purification techniques to study the complex cell populations in the human spleen. The study published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology also looked at the interactions extracellular vesicles taken from plasma from patients with Plasmodium vivax infections, a parasite which causes malaria, and the different types of spleen cells. This is the first time this type of study has been done using spleen samples from donors.

- Innovation, Research

Biointaxis launches a 0.88M euro crowdfunding campaign to finance a curative therapy for Friedreich's Ataxia

Biointaxis is a spin-off of the IGTP led by Dr. Antoni Matilla-Dueñas. To date, the research has been financed with the support of patient associations, the founders themselves, La Caixa Foundation, the CDTI and the Ministry of Science and Innovation. The project, that received the European seal of excellence in 2020, is in the final phase of gene therapy after years of research progress and it is the only candidate with potential to cure the disease at the moment. This round aims to overcome  the critical inflexion point - the demonstration of the biodistribution and safety of the therapy in non-human primates. The value of the company will increase considerably when this data is available in less than 1 year; the financing campaign is being carried out through the equity crowdfunding platform of Capital Cell.

- Research

The IGTP is awarded 4 projects on covid-19 financed by the La Marató de TV3

The IGTP has been awarded 4 projects in the 2020 edition of the La Marató de TV3 dedicated to the study of SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes. IGTP researchers are leading 3 projects and taking part in 2 more that are coordinated by other institutions on the Can Ruti Campus. All the projects are multi-disciplinary and collaborations between groups in different fields on the campus, underlining how research into complex diseases is more and more undertaken by collaborative networks. A total of 36 projects have been funded and will be financed by the over 12 million euros collected in the last marathon.

- Research

New studies show that chronic Plasmodium vivax malaria is an infection of the spleen and most of the biomass of the parasite is found there

The new studies change the accepted facts about the biology of Plasmodium vivax, a parasite that causes an often chronic and sometimes fatal form of malaria. The work focuses on the spleen, which has been thought to be the organ that cleared malaria parasites from the blood; the new data shows that in fact it is a reservoir and nursery for the parasite. This work can explain why malaria caused by P. vivax can have a latent liver form responsible for clinical relapses together with intrasplenic parasites likely responsible for chronic asymptomatic infections, thus providing new avenues for alternative control strategies.