At the IGTP TODAY
CARE, the Translational Program in Cancer Research is the first transversal program promoted by the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), and it aims to become a bridge for researchers in the field of cancer who want to bring basic and clinical research together, so that the knowledge and the tools generated in the laboratory can benefit the patient.
Dr Bonaventura Clotet, Director of IrsiCaixa and member of the Board of Trustees of the IGTP has been awarded the prestigious 'Premi Nacional de Recerca' in recognition of his contribution to science with his work on infectious diseases, especially HIV and AIDS.
This is the second year that the WiS Group have monitored the scientific activity on Can Ruti Campus.
The Experimental Tuberculosis Group at the IGTP has set up this trial, coordinated from Can Ruti, within the European project H2020 ‘SMA-TB’. The study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of adding acetylsalicylic acid or ibuprofen to the antibiotic treatments applied for tuberculosis. It is a phase II trial which will be carried out in South Africa and Georgia, two of the countries the WHO has in its sights to control this infectious disease. The trial has been prepared in the midst of the pandemic, with the added challenge of coordinating it with the restrictions and different stages of the epidemic in each of the countries involved.
In 2016, the Retrovirology and Clinical Studies group at IrsiCaixa discovered how the absence of the Siglec-1 protein, involved in modulating the immune system, blocks the spread of HIV throughout the body. Now, a study led by the same research group and the Experimental Tuberculosis Unit of the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) has shown that, on the other hand, this same deficiency favours the dissemination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the tuberculosis-causing agent.
The Talents Programme supports research projects in the health sector and despite the pandemic research into other diseases continues. 14 health professionals in all, and 8 of them from Germans Trias i Pujol, have been awarded grants to carry out research projects in the 2020 edition of the programme. The awards represent recognition for young health professionals who are carrying out research activities.
Jordi Barretina Ginesta is the new Director of the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) on Campus Can Ruti, Badalona; he will take up the role this October. The open selection process was managed by the CERCA institution, of which the IGTP is a member. Dr Barretina will take over from Dr Manel Puig Domingo, who is stepping down as director of the research centre after seven years in the post.
The clinical trial will test whether the food supplement Manremyc® protects against infection with SARS-CoV-2 and starts this May. The Pharmaceutical company Reig Jofre is the sponsor of the trial. It is coordinated from the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute together with the IDIAP Jordi Gol Foundation. The trial will last three months and results are expected in October 2020.
The study has collected close to 62,000 replies to the questionnaire in only 15 days so far. The researchers have carried out the analysis of the results for this initial period. The questionnaire is still available in four languages (and soon in five) and will continue to collect information during the coming phases of the pandemic.
The emergency ventilator RESPIRA, developed by GPAINNOVA, with the support of the Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute and the University of Barcelona have passed the first stage of the clinical trial with the first two patients affected by COVID-19 successfully. With the first phase complete, the study can be expanded to other hospitals in the region. Thanks to the support received from the public, companies and administrations today the first 100 emergency ventilators c have been delivered to the SEM for distribution.
