Epidemiological and experimental data suggest that full-term pregnancy (lasting 37 – 40 weeks) at an early age reduces the risk of developing breast cancer in postmenopausal women. However, the mechanism responsible for this protection is unknown. A study led by researchers at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute of the Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA), in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, USA), identifies molecular differences in breast cells from women with and without children. The work was published in the journal Cell Stem Cell from the Cell group, with Dr. Vanessa Almendro as its co-first author. Shes is a member of the IDIBAPS Molecular and Translational Oncology team directed by Dr. Pere Gascon, Chief of Oncology at the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona. The results of the investigation suggest that CD44+ p27+ cells are potential progenitors of estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) postmenopausal breast cancer, the most common form of the disease.
A population of cells which decreases after pregnancy is related to breast cancer risk
Genzyme Foundation awards Dr. Pablo Villoslada’s team with a research grant in Multiple Sclerosis
Genzyme Foundation has awarded four grants aimed to improve the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of Multiple Sclerosis. Dr. Pablo Villoslada, from the IDIBAPS Neuroimmunology Program, was one of the awarded researchers in a ceremony held in Madrid on June 10. The project submitted by the team was entitled ‘Brain Mapping of the decision-making processes (Neuroeconomics) in Multiple Sclerosis’. The rest of the awards were for the Centre d’Esclerosi Múltiple de Catalunya (Cemcat), Hospital Clínico San Carlos (Madrid) and the Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBIS)/Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío.
Dr. Eduard Gratacós awarded by the Fundación Mutua Madrileña in the category of Rare Diseases
The Mutua Madrileña Foundation was established in 2003 with the aim of supporting medical research. Since then it has awarded over 1,000 projects. Queen Sofia attended on Wednesday June 12 the awards ceremony of this Foundation. Those awards cover many areas of research and social action, and among the winners there was Dr. Eduard Gratacós, Chief of the Maternal Fetal Medicine Service at the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona and head of the Fetal and Perinatal Medicine IDIBAPS research group. The award for Scientific Research was oriented to the field of rare diseases, and will be dedicated to a project on cardiovascular function in surviving twins after fetal-fetal transfusion.
Information via: Fundación Mutua Madrileña
Students from the Bàrkeno School support cancer research with a check obtained by collecting 700 kg of bottle caps
Bàrkeno School of Barcelona is a center for Early Childhood and Primary Education located in the Marina district of the Zona Franca. On Wednesday June 12 the school invited Dr. Pere Gascon, Chief of Oncology at Hospital Clínic of Barcelona and head of the IDIBAPS team Molecular and Translational Oncology, to a very special event: The delivery of a 220 Euros check that students from the school, between 3 and 12 years, had earned by collecting thousands of bottle caps.
A new grant from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III for the recruitment of clinical investigators will be named after Dr. Juan Rodés
The Instituto de Salud Carlos III, the main public research organization that funds, manages and executes biomedical research in Spain, has published the bases of the Contracts Juan Rodes. The name is a tribute to the work of the physician who was Director General of the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona (2003-2008) in addition to one of the greatest supporters and Director of IDIBAPS (1997-2008) and emeritus professor at the UB’s Faculty of Medicine. It is usual to name public calls for biomedical research contracts after illustrious figures, such as Ramón y Cajal, Miguel Servet or Sara Borrell. For the first time this award is given to someone still active as Dr. Juan Rodés, who puts his vast experience to serve the Health Research Institute (IIS) IDIBAPS – Hospital Clínic.
Neurocognitive rehabilitation could improve the function of neural networks altered in schizophrenia
A study published in Biological Psychiatry shows that neurocognitive rehabilitation treatment is able to improve the performance of different neural networks altered in schizophrenia. The study is the result of a close collaboration between the Schizophrenia Unit of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, directed by Dr. Miquel Bernardo, and the Neuropsychology Laboratory at the University of Barcelona, led by Dr. Carme Junque, both of them research teams from IDIBAPS . Dr. Rafael Penadés is the first author of the study.
