NEWSLETTER OF THE INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN BIOMEDICINE in vivo July 2014 | Issue 27 p5 CERCA showcase A trip to Tel Aviv A new website for IRB p5 p7 p6 Alzheimer’s experts unite A letter from camp Alzheimer’s Disease causes a progressive loss of memory and thinking and reasoning skills, and is one of the greatest challenges facing today’s aging population. One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s is the presence in the brain of ab- normal accumulations of the amyloid-ββ protein, which was the focus of the last Barcelona BioMed Conference, Amyloid-ββ and Alzheimer’s Disease: From Fundamental Principles to Therapeutic Strategies, held on 9-11 July. More on page 2. Colon cancer, metastatic cancer, and micro- tubule biology in cell division are the focus of three articles appearing in advanced online edi- tions in June of Nature Cell Biology. With an impact factor of 20, NCB is one of the highest ranked journals. The articles arise from research by the groups of Roger Gomis (1 June), Eduard Batlle (22 June) and Jens Lüders (29 June). The Batlle team’s work was chosen for the cover of the July print issue. More on page 3. 1-2-3 in Nature Cell Biology When maths meet life This summer, IRB Barcelona has opened its doors to several scientists from areas that have traditionally been at arm’s length from the life sciences: mathematicians, physicists, and statisticians. They’re all part of a new training programme for University stu- dents called Maths4Life, aimed at opening new opportunities to merge these fields. More on page 4. Alzheimers’ experts gather at the Barcelona Bio- Med Conference organised in collaboration with the BBVA Foundation on 9-11 July. (Photo: L.T. Barone) Salvador Aznar Benitah has been awarded the IX Bank of Sabadell Prize for Biomedical Research. Selected from among more than 65 candidates, the jury recognised “his contributions to the field of stem cell research, and in particular, for discovering the influence of the circadian rhythm on the behaviour of adult stem cells, a finding which has important implications in the fields of ageing and cancer.” The 38-year- old scientist heads IRB Barcelona’s “Stem Cells and Cancer” group. “This prize is one of the most important in Spain and among the biggest internationally. It represents recognition at the highest level,” explains Carlos López- Otín, chair of the jury. Aznar receives Bank of Sabadell honour Salvador Aznar Benitah received the IX Bank of Sabadell Prize for Biomedical Research from Bank President Josep Oliu at a ceremony on 1 July. (Photo: Banc Sabadell)
Transcript
NEWSLETTER OF THE INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN BIOMEDICINE
in vivoJuly 2014 | Issue 27
p5 CERCA showcase
A trip to Tel Aviv
A new website for IRBp5 p7p6
Alzheimer’s experts unite
A letter from camp
Alzheimer’s Disease causes a progressive
loss of memory and thinking and reasoning
skills, and is one of the greatest challenges facing
today’s aging population. One of the hallmarks
of Alzheimer’s is the presence in the brain of ab-
normal accumulations of the amyloid-ββ protein,
which was the focus of the last Barcelona BioMed
Conference, Amyloid-ββ and Alzheimer’s Disease: From Fundamental Principles to Therapeutic Strategies, held on 9-11 July. More on page 2.
Colon cancer, metastatic cancer, and micro-
tubule biology in cell division are the focus of
three articles appearing in advanced online edi-
tions in June of Nature Cell Biology. With an
impact factor of 20, NCB is one of the highest
ranked journals. The articles arise from research
by the groups of Roger Gomis (1 June), Eduard
Batlle (22 June) and Jens Lüders (29 June). The
Batlle team’s work was chosen for the cover of
the July print issue. More on page 3.
1-2-3 in Nature Cell Biology
When maths meet life This summer, IRB Barcelona has opened its doors to several
scientists from areas that have traditionally been at arm’s length
from the life sciences: mathematicians, physicists, and statisticians.
They’re all part of a new training programme for University stu-
dents called Maths4Life, aimed at opening new opportunities to
merge these fields. More on page 4.
Alzheimers’ experts gather at the Barcelona Bio-Med Conference organised in collaboration with the BBVA Foundation on 9-11 July. (Photo: L.T. Barone)
Salvador Aznar Benitah has been
awarded the IX Bank of Sabadell Prize for
Biomedical Research. Selected from among
more than 65 candidates, the jury recognised
“his contributions to the field of stem cell
research, and in particular, for discovering
the influence of the circadian rhythm on
the behaviour of adult stem cells, a finding
which has important implications in the
fields of ageing and cancer.” The 38-year-
old scientist heads IRB Barcelona’s “Stem
Cells and Cancer” group.
“This prize is one of the most
important in Spain and among the biggest
internationally. It represents recognition at
the highest level,” explains Carlos López-
Otín, chair of the jury.
Aznar receives Bank of Sabadell honour
Salvador Aznar Benitah received the IX Bank of Sabadell Prize for Biomedical Research from Bank President Josep Oliu at a ceremony on 1 July. (Photo: Banc Sabadell)
in vivo July 2014 | Issue 27p2
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a brain dis-
ease that causes a progressive loss of
memory and thinking and reasoning
skills, and represents one of the greatest chal-
lenges facing today’s aging population. One of
the hallmarks of AD is the presence in the brain
of abnormal accumulations of the amyloid-β
protein. This protein was at the centre of the last
Barcelona BioMed Conference, Amyloid-β and Alzheimer’s Disease: From Fundamental Prin-ciples to Therapeutic Strategies, held from 9-11
July at the Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Christopher Dobson (University of Cam-
bridge), who co-organised the conference with
IRB Barcelona’s Natàlia Carulla, is “completely
convinced that, contrary to widespread public
belief, Alzheimer’s is a treatable disease.”
“Fifty years ago,” explains this scientist,
“people thought cancer was incurable. Now we
know that’s not true. Another interesting parallel
is with AIDS. After 20 years of massive invest-
ment, at least in the developed world you can live
being HIV positive. I am sure AD could become
like that. We will be able to live with it without
experiencing such debilitating symptoms. We
only need to find the drugs that enable our natu-
ral defences to work longer.”
The three-day Barcelona BioMed Confer-
ence, the 24th of the series, was organised in col-
laboration with the BBVA Foundation and saw
the participation of about 150 top scientists from
basic research, clinical neurology and pharma-
ceutical companies.
The aggregation of proteins and formation
of amyloid deposits is what
gives rise to AD. Normally,
says Dobson, “we have de-
fence mechanisms, chaperones
and quality control systems,
that pick up the beginnings of
these aggregation events and
prevent them or degrade the species that would
otherwise become toxic. This process works in-
credibly well – in fact, so well that up to the age
of 60 the risk of suffering from AD is very low.
But as we grow older, the protective mechanisms
start to be less efficient.”
In one sense, it could be easier to tackle than
other diseases. “The nature of the species giving
rise to AD,” explains this chemical biologist, “is
much simpler than viruses or bacteria. In fact,
they are really junk. They are by-products of
protein production and function that are normal-
ly cleared out of your system. Amyloid deposits
are not going to fight back, they are not going to
mutate to evade drugs. We have to find a way to
reduce their occurrence or to clear them out. I
am quite sure drugs capable of doing this can be
developed soon.”
The key for the change of paradigm is to in-
vest more money. “If people in their 20s, 30s and
40s don’t think about this disease, they will spend
the rest of their lives looking after my generation
and perhaps the next one,” adds the British sci-
entist. “The cost to care for people with AD is
already enormous for society and will continue
to increase without effective treatments!”
Fortunately, Dobson thinks, “a lot of things
are now coming together. We are at a turning
point in AD research. Scientists are beginning to
understand what the agents
causing the disease are, and
finding that there are test-
able biomarkers.”
Dobson thinks that
the work carried out in
IRB Barcelona “addresses
one of the absolutely key issues in the AD field,
namely the nature and structure of the key spe-
cies involved in pathology, that future drugs
could target.”
What are especially toxic, and can initiate
the subsequent neurodegenerative events, in
fact, are the species that form before fibres and
plaques, not the proteins themselves. These spe-
cies are generally called oligomers, and can be
made of several molecules. Because they are rela-
tively small, they can move around and cause the
spread of the disease.
Meetings like the Barcelona BioMed Confer-
ence help to catalyse new research. As Dobson
puts it, “I am optimistic that these multidisci-
plinary roots will bring us to lots of new ideas
that will completely transform this field. We
must get the message across that AD is some-
thing we can deal with, it’s not the end of the
world. We don’t have to accept that it is part of
our future.” (ltb).
Alzheimer’s is something we can deal with... We don’t have to accept that it is part of our future.❞
Chris Dobson,University of Cambridge
❝
Chris Dobson: “Alzheimer’s is a curable disease”
SCIENCE BITESeral processes such cellular proliferation, se-
nescence, and cancer progression.
No food? p53 to the rescue! p53 is a well known tu-
mour suppressor gene conserved from humans
to flies. Now, Milan’s lab has unveiled a new
role for p53 in Drosophila during starvation as
it contributes to metabolism adaptation. p53
seems to modify the metabolism of specific
cells that regulate the consumption of energy
stores and its depletion reduces fly lifespan in
flies under starvation conditions. The paper
has been published on 10 July in Cell Reports.
Molecular highways “In-
formation transfer pathways inside
proteins exist.” This is the claim of the article
published by Xavier Salvatella and Modesto
Orozco in Nature Communications on 12
➲
A shape for perfect coupling A study performed in
collaboration between IRB Barcelona’s Raul
Méndez and Frédéric H.-T. Allain from the
Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophys-
ics in Zurich and published in Genes and De-
velopment on 1 July has revealed the structure
that allows CPEB proteins to bind RNA with
high fidelity. CPEB proteins are essential for
translation control and are implicated in sev-
➲
➲
Christopher Dobson opened the Barcelona BioMed Conference on Amyloid-β. (Photo: L.T. Barone)
in vivo July 2014 | Issue 27p2
Natural protection of the colonEduard Batlle’s team are a step closer to un-
derstanding the evolution of colon cancer. They
found that the colon has a safety mechanism
that restricts the formation and rapid develop-
ment of adenomas. Between 30% and 50% of
people over 50 years develop adenomas, benign
tumours that, over time, can turn into cancer,
and this safety mechanism is automatically acti-
vated when these pre-cancerous lesions appear.
“The formation of an adenoma in the colon
is accompanied by an increase in the production
of a molecule called BMP (bone morphogenetic
protein). This molecule limits the self-renewal
capacity of adenoma stem cells, thus imped-
ing the rapid development of the lesion,” says
Batlle, ICREA Research Professor who leads
the Colorectal Cancer Lab. The study, whose
main author is Gavin Whissell, has revealed
a safety circuit to eliminate the tumours, or at
least control their development. “Colon cancer
is a disease that develops slowly, and this is pos-
sibly thanks to this mechanism,” he points out.
The mechanism may not be equally effec-
tive in every person. Genetic variations in the
population determine that some people have
more robust safety mechanisms to respond to
polyp formation than others. “We provide a
plausible explanation of why certain genomic
variations are associated with a greater risk
of colon cancer.” The study opens the door
to strengthening strategies to fight this dis-
1-2-3 in Nature Cell Biology
June. The authors demonstrate the trans-
fer of information in all proteins containing
beta-sheets. “If our hypothesis is correct, we
would be able to find many sites within the
structure of a protein that would be equally
or more efficient at interacting with a drug,”
says Salvatella.
RARRES3 must be there Research headed by Roger Gomis at
ease, one of the most prevalent cancers, with
1,600,000 cases diagnosed annually and a mor-
tality rate of 50%.
Metastases of metastasisFirst-authored by Jelena Urosevic and
Xabier Garcia-Albéniz, a study on the new
concept of metastases of metastasis appears in
Nature Cell Biology’s July issue. The team led
by ICREA Research Professor Roger Gomis
explain why colon cancer metastasis always fol-
lows the same invasive pattern, first establishing
itself in the liver and then in the lung.
The study reveals that the metastatic le-
sion in the liver is necessary for later metastasis
to the lung, making the liver a platform from
which the cells prepare the lung niche to be
colonised.
The researchers observed that tumour cells
in the liver release PTHLH. This molecule af-
fects the cells of pulmonary blood vessels,
which respond by triggering a remodelling pro-
cesses, causing the previously impermeable ves-
sel walls to form gaps. When a tumour cell es-
capes from the liver to travel towards the lung,
it exploits these gaps to enter the lung.
“The tumour cells gain capacity to produce
PTHLH when the levels of p38 are decreased.
Our results suggest that the administration of
p38 inhibitors to certain patients with advanced
stages of colon cancer or with metastases could
be counterproductive and may increase their
risk of colonisation,” explains Gomis.
Spotlight on microtubulesJens Lüders’ most recent paper is the
third to be published in NCB, appearing in
the August print issue. With the help of Ju-
lien Colombelli and IRB Barcelona’s state-
of-the-art Advanced Digital Microscopy fa-
cility, Lüders solved a long-standing mystery
in the microtubule field - how to track the
starting points of microtubules. These pro-
tein filaments assemble the mitotic spindle, a
complex structure that distributes the chro-
mosomes correctly when cells divide.
“We have finally been able to label the
starting points of thousands of these fila-
ments, which are extremely dynamic and
variable, and follow their distribution and
movement during the assembly of the mitotic
spindle,” say Nicholas Lecland and Lüders,
the authors of this study. “For more than 10
years scientists have been able to track only
the growing ends of microtubules but not
the starting points. We lacked essential infor-
mation about the dynamic architecture of the
mitotic spindle and how it contributes to cell
division,” says Lüders.
The researchers describe for the first time
where most microtubules form inside the
spindle and how they are transported to op-
posite poles. “We now have a more complete
understanding of the mitotic spindle and can
use our novel labeling strategy to test old and
new hypotheses about cell division,” says the
German scientist. (sa).
Colon cancer, metastatic cancer, and microtubule biology in cell division are the focus of
three articles appearing in advanced online editions in June of Nature Cell Biology. With
an impact factor of 20, NCB is one of the highest ranked journals. The articles arise from
research by the groups of Roger Gomis (1 June), Eduard Batlle (22 June) and Jens Lüders (29
June). The Batlle team’s work was chosen for the cover of the July print issue.
IRB Barcelona, with the collaboration of
Joan Massagué in the MSKCC, has demon-
strated that a loss of RARRES3 in estrogen
receptor-negative breast cancer is enough to
promote the cancer cell colonization into
the lung. The paper published online in
EMBO Molecular Medicine on 27 May also
suggests that RARRES3 expression could be
useful to identify patients with greater sus-
ceptibility to lung metastasis..➲
in vivo July 2014 | Issue 27p4
On any given day you will see lots of different types of research-
ers walking in and out of labs at IRB Barcelona: molecular
biologists, chemists, structural biologists, to name just a few.
Our science is a very interdisciplinary thing. This summer, you’ll also see
several scientists from areas that have traditionally been at arm’s length
from the life sciences: mathematicians, physicists, and statisticians – and
they’re all part of a new training programme aimed at opening new op-
portunities to merge these fields.
Nowadays, biomedical research is increasingly demanding maths-
related scientists. In the age of Big Data, our scientists generate such an
enormous amount of information (in genomics, imaging, and so on) that
we need specialists in data analysis. “Translating thousands of data into
something that is understandable and manageable requires theory, meth-
odology, and technology,” explains Camille Stephan-Otto Attolini, head
of IRB Barcelona’s Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Unit.
For this reason, the Institute has organised a summer placement scheme
for mathematicians, physicists, and statisticians interested in putting their
knowledge to the service of biomedical research. “There is now a need for
interdisciplinary groups with experts ranging from clinical settings to in-
formatics, passing through biology and biostatistics. What’s more, among
these professionals, we need people who can build bridges, people capable
of combining other disciplines with
the aim to better exploit the data,”
continues Stephan-Otto, who holds
a PhD in Mathematics.
This year IRB Barcelona has
granted fellowships to three under-
graduate students (two on a double
degree of Maths & Physics, and
another studying Biomedical En-
gineering) to spend three months
working in the groups of Modesto
Orozco, Patrick Aloy and Camille
Stephan-Otto Attolini. (om).
Maths come to IRB
PhD Recruitment Day. 25 prospective
PhD students came on 22 May to meet the IRB
Barcelona scientific community. After hearing
a presentation of the Institute, the group had
a chance to visit some laboratories and have a
lunch with Group Leaders. Most students came
from biomedical faculties, from within and out-
side Spain.
Due diligence. On 16 June, Javier García,
biotech consultant and professor at IE Univer-
sity, was invited by the Innovation Department
to talk about the due diligence process for po-
tentially licensable projects. The Innovation
Workshop Series is meant to foster entrepre-
neurship among the IRB Barcelona community.
The next session will take place in October and
will be dedicated to improving business presen-
tation skills.
Batlle at Primera Plan@. Group Leader
Eduard Batlle was invited on 27 May to the
Forum Primera Plan@, organised by the news-
paper El Periódico de Catalunya with the sup-
Nijmegen exchange. 5 PhD students and
the Academic Office’s Patricia Nadal attended
the PhD Student Retreat at the RIMLS Institute
in Nijmegen (Netherlands) in May as a follow
up to their visit last year at our PhD Students
Symposium in November. The students, select-
ed by the Student Council, brought back some
good ideas for the organisation of IRB Barce-
lona’s own 2-day PhD Student Retreat, which
will take place for the first time in the Fall.
IN BRIEF
ERNEST GIRALT received the European Peptide Society’s Josef Rudinger
Memorial Lecture Award, which he will receive in Sofia, Bulgaria on 31
August • FERNANDO ALBERICIO received the Research Excellence Prize
of Spain’s Royal Chemical Society on 21 May as well as being appointed
permanent member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in
July. He will be formally inducted in March 2015 • JORDI CASANOVA
was elected numerary member of the Biological Sciences section of the
Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Catalonia’s National Academy, on 17 June
• Former PhD student ELISA ESPINET (Batlle lab) received the UB’s
extraordinary doctorate award for her thesis on 26 June • Former PhD
student XAVIER JUST BARINGO (Albericio lab) was named finalist of the
Reaxys PhD Prize.
...and awards for other IRB Barcelona researchers follow
”La Caixa” fellows honoured at ceremony in Madrid...Salvador Guardiola, Rosa Pascual, Sandra Segura, Francisca Peixoto and
Alexandra Balaceanu (not pictured), the IRB Barcelona PhD Students
who joined the Institute as part of the ”la Caixa”-IRB International PhD
Programme in September 2013 travelled to the CaixaForum in Madrid
on 8 July for the ”la Caixa” Foundation awards ceremony where they
received their fellowship certificates from Foundation president, Jaume
Lanaspa and Secretary of State Carmen Vela.
Ready to fly! The 2013 ”la Caixa”-IRB International PhD Programme students receive their fellowship certificate in a ceremony on 8 July (Photo: J. Domínguez)
in vivo July 2014 | Issue 27p4
port of the Bank of Sabadell. These conferences
are attended by managing directors, academ-
ics, lawyers, researchers, and representatives
from the financial and social sectors, and trade
unions.
Coffee for Research. Joan J. Guinovart
and Josep Samitier, IBEC Director, inaugurated
the first Café amb Recerca, a new networking
initiative launched by the Catalan Founda-
tion for Research and Innovation (FCRI). The
events aim to provide an informal setting in
which to promote dialogue between research
Innovators network at home and away
Part of the strategic initiatives of the Innovation Department are
to strengthen bonds with leading entrepreneurial networks and
showcase the top quality research performed at the Institute.
Once again, IRB Barcelona took part in BIO International Con-
vention, the biggest biotech convention worldwide that has been taking
place for the last 20 years. This year’s event was entitled “Connect, Part-
ner, Innovate” and took place on 23-26 June in San Diego. The magni-
tude of the BIO International Convention and the profile of the par-
ticipants guarantee that the companies and research organisations present
will be provided with multiple opportunities to license their products
and establish collaborations.
Iproteos, IRB Barcelona’s spin-off company founded in 2011 by
Teresa Tarragó and Ernest Giralt, was also in San Diego to present its
research on new therapeutic agents for the treatment of diseases of the
central nervous system. IRB Barcelona and Iproteos attended as part of
the Catalan Biocompanies and Institutions cluster, under the BIOCAT
umbrella.
A few weeks later, IRB Barcelona and Iproteos delegates met again
at the Entrepreneurial Tech Fair organised by the IESE Business School
(University of Navarra) in Barcelona on 9 July. In each edition of this
Fair, IESE chooses early-stage technology-based projects promoted by
research centres and universities in Catalonia and seek to establish col-
laborations between them and current and former IESE students.
IRB Barcelona was one of the institutions invited to this event, while
Iproteos was one of the six companies presenting their projects, with
the view to attracting possible investors. Iproteos’ goal was to raise the
300,000 euros needed for the pre-clinical development of the first cogni-
tive enhancement drug for schizophrenia.
The company has also launched the first Equity Crowdfunding for
a biotech company in Spain. They hope to raise a third of the total, and
have already collected 25,000 euros. This system, common in other Eu-
ropean countries, allows small investors to obtain a percentage of the
shares of the company they invest in. More information about this initia-
tive here: www.creoentuproyecto.com. .CERCA showcases research
IRB Barcelona Director, Joan Guinovart, Head of Research and Academic Administration, Jorge
Domínguez, and Head of Innovation, Cristina Horcajada, ventured across town on 28 April to
attend the 1st CERCA Conference, held in the Born Centre Cultural. The event brought to-
gether the 47 research centres that belong to the Catalan Government, with a view to bringing about
synergies whilst simultaneously boosting their international visibility.
The gathering included presentations of 3 technology transfer projects in CERCA’s “Prova’t”
initiative, including Ernest Giralt’s project, BBBSHUTTLE mAb, a collaboration with Joan Seoane
at VHIO. This joint project seeks to develop a new treatment for brain cancer.
CERCA, which stands for Catalan Research Centres, is commissioned with following up, sup-
porting, and facilitating the activities undertaken by research centres in Catalonia, which are charac-
terised by an independent management model and the application of evaluation protocols—which
together culminate in the development of outstanding science. .organisations and the business sector.
AMBER Alert. Where do you go to learn
the latest developments of the AMBER molec-
ular dynamics software? The 10th International
AMBER workshop, which took place in Barce-
lona in June and was organised by IRB Barcelo-
na and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.
50 students from all over the world gathered
for the week-long meeting to learn new func-
tions and tools of this package. Instructors in-
cluded Federica Battistini and Pablo Dans from
Modesto Orozco’s lab.
What in the WWW?After seven years of reputable service, IRB
Barcelona’s digital image needed a brush up.
The new web site, launched at the end of this
month, combines a more visual appearance
with a different concept in navigation, which is
now not only hierarchical, but also horizontal,
to facilitate exploration through themes, key
words and associations. We have added new
sections and reorganised old ones, to better
emphasise our strategic goals.
Check it out at www.irbbarcelona.org.
p5in vivo July 2014 | Issue 27
in vivo July 2014 | Issue 27p6
July 1, 2014
Dear Mom,
Greetings from MónNatura Pirineus! We
arrived on Tuesday and everything here is re-
ally neat. We are in the middle of a national
park — who knew the Catalan countryside was
so beautiful and green! The camp facilities are
great. We have real science labs set up in the
middle of the woods! Fundació Catalunya-La
Pedrera, the people who organise the camp, re-
ally know what they are doing...
The kids at camp are the greatest. The 50
who were selected to attend from high schools
all over Catalonia are incredibly bright – and
so passionate about science! It’s really fun and
inspiring to work alongside them. I’m one of
15 counsellors who came to the camp to lead
the students through 2-week long science proj-
ects. We explain our research and then work
through lots and lots of experiments. My ses-
sion is called “From DNA to disease; a jour-
ney through the three-dimensional biology of
proteins.” Together with Oriol Marimon and
Mariano Maffei, former IRB researchers, we
work really hard with the students to clone, ex-
press and purify proteins. Then we visualise the
3D structure and try to understand why a mu-
tation in DNA can totally change the protein
structure and function leading to disease. Im-
pressive stuff, and the kids are really up for the
challenge! They are so excited about the chance
they have to roll up their sleeves and dig into
real research. Lots of them have already told
me that they are totally psyched about getting a
headstart on their careers in science.
When we’re not in the labs,
there’s plenty of time
for us all to get to know
each other and do regu-
lar camp stuff, like field
trips and football. If the
truth were told though,
I’ve actually had to go in
to the labs and drag some
of the kids out. They are re-
ally committed to learning!
I’m sad for camp to be ending in a few days,
and I’ll miss the kids I’ve met here. But I am
looking forward to getting back to IRB Bar-
celona and starting my new job as the Public
Engagement and Scientific Education Officer
where I’ll get to continue to do all sorts of cool
stuff communicating science.
Love,
Helena (González)
P. S. Send marshmallows if
you can.
A letter to Mom from summer camp
A host of summer training activities
The Brazilian way
A scientist of the 21st century is one who is not only busy
with her next publication or research grant. We are wor-
ried also about how we interact with our community
and how we affect policy and change lives. Those of us who are
involved in public engagement activities know we don’t only do
it by choice, but also because these activities are part of sound sci-
entific policies.
The 13th International Conference on Public Communication
of Science and Technology (PCST 2014), held in Salvador de Ba-
hia, Brazil, was the ideal platform to get in touch with the best sci-
ence communication professionals in the world. The contrast of a
cruel history with the beauty of the exultant Brazilian population
was the perfect setting for this event, focused on social inclusion
in science communication.
Over 4 days, almost 500 participants networked in the halls of
the venue, where more than 100 simultaneous presentations where
taking place: posters, workshops, seminars and performances, giv-
ing the state of the art and conducting new approaches in com-
municating science. IRB Barcelona established fruitful interac-
tions with international organisations that will help the Institute
to develop new communication strategies. UNESCO and CERN
offer good examples of engagement policies that really do have an
impact on society. (hg).
Most people associate summer with beaches and relaxation, but
not everyone: some school kids eagerly wait for summer to
enter the world of science. Over the summer months, IRB
Barcelona labs often “adopt” students to train them and help nurture
their scientific spirit. “Now, I’m convinced that my future is in scientific
research,” affirms Alejandra de la Rosa, an intern in Zorzano’s lab. “At
school, you have a book with all the answers – here you write the book.”
This year, two students awarded the “2013 Extraor-
dinary Baccalaureate Prize” also came to the Institute
in July. They spent a week visiting 5 different labs to
experience hands-on research.
And, as every year, IRB opened its doors to 50
baccalaureate students who performed the practical
work toward their high-school research
projects, mentored by our PhD stu-
dents. “Mentoring high school stu-
dents is mutually beneficial. You
teach them how to think like sci-
entist and they come up with
great ideas that you may
have never contemplated,”
says former tutor, Helena
González. (om). High-school students Alba Bossoms and Guillem Font visited IRB Barcelona for a week during July. (Photo: O. Martorell)
My MónNatura Pirineus campers proudly show their plates full of bacteria at a lab
session during the science summer camp in July. (Photo: H. González)
A letter to Mom from summer camp
In May, floods unseen in the last 120 years of history of Balkans
struck the area of Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia, killing people and
forcing thousands out of their homes, devastating crops and de-
stroying infrastructures. IRB Barcelona researchers from the Balkan-
countries, Milica Pavlovic, Saska Ivanova, Ivan Ivani, Jelena Petrovic,
Petra Miklocevic, Marko Marjanovic and Jelena Urosevic, came to-
gether in aid of their compatriots. They baked chupavzi and proya
and raised 550 euros to send back to their countries to help those in
need. (ss).
In aid of the Balkans
“I was looking for a scientifically
challenging country, but more ex-
otic than a usual European state.”
Miquel Duran, a PhD student in Patrick Aloy’s
Structural Bioinformatics lab, thought that Is-
rael was the best choice for his 3-month stay.
He just left a very critical war situation to land
back in Barcelona. “We had to flee to refuges
many times in the past few days,” he recalls.
Miquel’s scientific goal is to understand
and predict secondary effects of drugs. “The
Interactome, the frame that our lab uses
to understand how things work,” explains
Miquel, “is limited. It is a good descriptive
tool, but not quantitative enough. We
need a systems biology approach
that can make quantitative pre-
dictions.”
Miquel joined Eytan Rup-
pin’s lab at Tel Aviv University
whose main expertise is devel-
oping genomic scale metabolic models. “They
do something very similar to what we did in
our lab with proteins, but with metabolites.
And, most importantly, they can make quanti-
tative predictions.”
“Israelis are very competent scientifically,
their education and ambition are outstanding.
But they have trouble attracting talent – that’s
what they say all the times,” says
Miquel.
This 29-year-old chemist by
training worked on two proj-
ects during his stay in Israel.
“On one side, I concentrated on
60 cell lines for cancer metabolic
models. The other project
was looking for multi-
target therapies. I was
trying to understand
what happens if with
one molecule you can
block more that one enzyme at the same time.”
Three months for this stay were just
enough to learn the techniques. “I might join
them again to finish up my projects,” says
Miquel. “But they are all moving to Maryland
soon, so I will have to go the US next time.”
His stay was an occasion for Miquel to get
in touch with a very different reality and way
of thinking. “It’s true that Tel Aviv has a very
lively social life,” he says, “but what surprised
me the most was the criticism people made
towards their government, either for being
too tough or too mild on the Palestine issue. I
witnessed many lively discussions while I was
there. I visited the West Bank many times and
both sides are really fed up with the situation.
People from both sides, at least the sensible
ones, know they have to reach an agreement.
But they can’t seem to talk to and understand
each other.” (ltb).
The community of IRB Barcelona researchers from the Balkan countries raise money to help their flood-stricken compatriots back home (Photo: M. Candotti)
Tasting wine to fight metastasisMore than 350 people gathered in Mollerussa (Lleida) on 31
May to raise their glasses to life and support IRB Barcelona
research into metastasis. The first “Vi per Vida” Charity Wine-
Tasting event was organised by sommelier Xavier Ayala with the
support of Generalitat de Catalunya, INCAVI, the Mollerussa
town council, and other local organisations. The event, led by
Xavier himself and journalist Elisabet Carnicé, offered two
hours of fun tasting seven wines. Figures from the world of
Catalan culture, gastronomy, music, and sport recorded video
messages of support, shown during the event. The “Vi per Vida”
Association is preparing new tasting sessions, the next one to be
held in Calella (Barcelona) in December. (sa).
EXCHANGES
Miquel Duran goes to Tel Aviv
Sommelier Xavi Ayala promoted the initiative Vi per Vida to support research at IRB Barcelona (Photo: S. Armengou)
Miquel Duran (Photo: G. Battista/M. Minocri)
NEW AT IRB BARCELONA
In vivo, issue 27. Published by the Institute for Research in Biomedicine. Office of Communications & External Relations. Barcelona Science Park. c/Baldiri Reixac, 10. 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Web: www.irbbarcelona.org -
Òscar Martorell (om). Graphic Production: La Trama. Legal deposit: MU-29-2012. This document has been printed on recycled paper. To subscribe or unsubscribe from in vivo, e-mail: info@
