One more year, the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) celebrated a new edition of its Research Day, an event aimed at reaffirming the center’s position as a leader in biomedical research and scientific innovation. The gathering brought together research leaders, healthcare professionals, and technology experts to discuss the latest advancements transforming healthcare.
What connection could there possibly be between thrombosis, a severe disease that causes one death every minute in Europe, and high-altitude mountains? Much more than we might imagine. At high altitudes, environmental conditions such as hypoxia and extreme physical effort can trigger physiological responses that increase the risk of blood clot formation, a situation similar to what people affected by thrombosis experience.
The Sant Pau Research Institute (IR) will launch a new Phase I/IIB clinical trial for patients with Fanconi anemia diagnosed with head and neck cancer. The study, known as the AFAN trial (EU CT No.: 2024-511477-29-00), is led by Dr. Jordi Surrallés, head of the Cancer Predisposition Syndromes Group, scientific director of the IR Sant Pau, and professor in the Department of Genetics and Microbiology at the UAB.
A recent study published by researchers from the Reproductive Health Group of the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and the Gynecology and Obstetrics Service of Sant Pau Hospital concludes that there is a clearly direct and significant relationship between the intensity of changes in emotional state due to stress factors during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and the incidence of menstrual changes: regularity, duration, and amount of menstruation.
Sant Pau Research Institute has published its 2023 Annual Report, celebrating an extraordinary year.
The Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and the Tibidabo Amusement Park have signed a collaboration agreement to promote the dissemination of gender-focused research and encourage scientific vocations among the young, with the central theme being the celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in February 2025. This agreement demonstrates the shared commitment of both entities to promote a more equitable society aware of the importance of science and the role of women in this field and to drive a project that combines science, gender perspective, fun, and outreach.
Researchers from the Neuromuscular Diseases Group and the Dementia Neurobiology Group of the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and the Memory Unit of the Sant Pau Hospital, led by neurologist Dr. Ricard Rojas-García, have identified a new mutation in the ARPP21 gene that could be the cause of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a devastating neurodegenerative disease.
The Sant Pau Research Institute celebrated today the laying of the cornerstone of its new Advanced Therapies Unit. These new facilities, supported by the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute and the Josep Carreras Foundation against Leukaemia, solidify themselves as a strategic resource for the Sant Pau Campus. They enable the development and manufacturing of personalized biological medicines within the hospital center for the treatment of its patients, reaffirming Sant Pau’s position as a global reference center in this field.
Researchers from the Research Area on Neurological Diseases, Neuroscience, and Mental Health at the Sant Pau Research Institute, led by Dr. Juan Fortea, Director of the Memory Unit of the Neurology Service at the same hospital, have found that over 95% of individuals over 65 years old who have two copies of the APOE4 gene -APOE4 homozygotes- show biological characteristics of Alzheimer’s pathology in the brain or biomarkers of this disease in cerebrospinal fluid and PET scans.
The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked extensive discussions about its effect on mental health. While global suicide rates remained stable during the pandemic, the specific impact on non-lethal suicidal behaviors, namely, ideation or suicide attempts that are survived, during and after the pandemic had not been explored.
The Sant Pau Research Institute announces the creation of the new research group in Advanced Medical Imaging, Artificial Intelligence, and Image-Guided Therapy. Dr. Josep Munuera, a researcher with a broad trajectory in the use of artificial intelligence applied to medicine and director of the Radiodiagnosis Service at Hospital Sant Pau, will lead this cross-sectional and multidisciplinary project that seeks to go beyond traditional specializations.
According to the results of an international study involving researchers from the Clinical Oncology group at the Sant Pau Research Institute, led by Dr. Teresa Ramon y Cajal, the follow-up with magnetic resonance imaging in women with mutations in the BRCA1 genes who have a high risk of developing breast cancer throughout their lives significantly reduces mortality without the need for preventive mastectomy.
L’Institut de Recerca Sant Pau (IR Sant Pau) i el Banc de Sang i Teixits (BST) han signat un acord de col·laboració destinat a impulsar el desenvolupament i la producció de medicaments innovadors.
L’acord, que representa una aliança pionera entre dues institucions capdavanteres en el camp de la salut, estableix les bases per a la creació d’un node conjunt que comptarà amb instal·lacions preparades per a la producció de teràpies avançades, incloent-hi les cèl·lules CAR-T.
A group of scientists from various hospitals and research centers in Catalonia, led by Drs. Álvaro Carbayo and Ricard Rojas, researchers from the Neuromuscular Diseases Group at the Sant Pau Research Institute, in collaboration with Dr. Sergi Borrego-Écija and Dr. Ellen Gelpi from the Alzheimer’s Disease and other Cognitive Disorders Group and the Neurological Tissue Bank of IDIBAPS, have published a study in the journal Brain that reveals connections between two devastating brain diseases: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia.
The detection of phosphorylated TAU 217 protein (p-tau217) in plasma has shown high precision in identifying pathological accumulations of beta-amyloid and TAU proteins. This precision is comparable to traditional biomarker detection in cerebrospinal fluid, as revealed by a recent study published in JAMA Neurology. Researchers from the Research Area in Neurological Diseases, Neuroscience, and Mental Health at the Sant Pau Research Institute, led by Dr. Juan Fortea, Director Sof the Memory Unit at the Neurology Department of the same hospital, participated in the study. These results pave the way for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease through a blood test.
Today, we celebrated the Sant Pau Research Day with genomics and rare diseases taking center stage. The day began with an introduction by Dr. Xavier Prats Monné, president of the board of the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau), who highlighted the talent and excellent work carried out by professionals in this field at Sant Pau.
La Marató de TV3 Foundation will fund 8 cardiovascular health projects coordinated from the Sant Pau Research Institute, thanks to the funds raised in the last edition, which was specifically dedicated to these diseases. In total, Sant Pau will receive €2,296,961.25, which will be allocated to leading projects on diseases such as myocardial infarction, stroke, atherosclerosis, hypercholesterolemia, or arrhythmias, some of them in collaboration with other research centers. Additionally, researchers from Sant Pau are also involved in two selected projects coordinated from other centers.
A study conducted at the Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau suggests that certain microRNAs (miRNAs) may be useful as non-invasive biomarkers for the early diagnosis of lymph node metastasis in patients with early-stage breast cancer. The research, led by Dr. Agustí Barnadas, head of the Clinical Oncology research group at IIB Sant Pau and head of the Medical Oncology service at the same hospital, focused on patients with early-stage breast cancer with estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) tumors.
A study conducted by researchers at the Research Institute from Hospital Santa Creu i Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau in Barcelona, Spain, has shown that deep brain stimulation of the subcallosal cingulate gyrus (SCG-DBS) can offer significant and lasting benefits for treating depression. The results of this research support the idea that this surgical intervention could be an effective alternative for patients suffering from severe major depression who have not responded to conventional treatments.
