About
Dona i Salut (DiS), translated as 'Woman & Health' in English, is made up entirely of health professionals (obstetricians, gynecologists, and midwives) who intend to incorporate a research activity into their usual clinical practice.
The group brings together a wide range of approaches, from oncology to obstetric violence. It is strongly committed to a clear and undeniable gender perspective which transversally imbues its areas of study. In fact, the vertebral axis that defines this research group is the integral and respectful consideration of women, particularly in terms of sexual and reproductive health rights. Additionally, the team aims to set up and disseminate a new research methodology which must consider gender dimension as essential cornerstone in each one of the projects.
Keywords: Women, health, pregnancy, oncology, epigenetics, gynecological cancer, gynecology, obstetrics.
Group leader
- Inés Velasco López, PhD
Inés Velasco López, PhD
Dr Velasco is a consultant physician specialising in Maternal & Fetal Health at the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital (Badalona) and associate professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Spain.
Her PhD focused on early nutritional intervention with iodine supplements in pregnant women and its impact on infant neurodevelopment. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Epidemiology (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), a Postgraduate Diploma in Fetal Medicine (University of Barcelona) and MSc in Nutritional, Genetics and Environmental Conditionings of Growth and Development (University of Granada).
Her research fields span maternal nutrition, obesity as well as endocrine disorders in pregnant women, mainly thyroid diseases and pregestational diabetes, with a focus on the short as well as longer term consequences for the health of mother and the child. She is currently involved in different studies in mother -child cohorts and development of clinical and educational interventions in pregnancy to improve pregnancy outcomes and child health.
Contact: ivelascol.germanstrias(ELIMINAR)@gencat.cat
ORCID: 0000-0002-6143-6970
Team
Head of the Gynaecology Service
Sergio Martínez Román, PhD(ELIMINAR)
Gynecologists
Carla Lecumberri Estruch, PhD(ELIMINAR)
Rosana Díaz Souto, MD(ELIMINAR)
Head of the Obstetrics Service
Carmen Comas Gabriel, PhD(ELIMINAR)
Obstetricians
Laia Pratcorona Alicart, PhD(ELIMINAR)
Marta Ricart Calleja, MD(ELIMINAR)
Beatriz Lorente Silva, MD(ELIMINAR)
Research associate
Alba Gilete Bedia(ELIMINAR)
Head of the Midwifery Section
Laura Tarrats Velasco, PhD(ELIMINAR)
Midwives
Pablo Rodriguez Coll, PhD(ELIMINAR)
Lorena Segovia Navarro(ELIMINAR)
Breast cancer specialist
Miguel Ángel Luna Miguel, PhD(ELIMINAR)
Prenatal diagnosis specialist
Iván Hurtado Lupiáñez, PhD(ELIMINAR)
Paediatrician
Paula Sol Ventura, PhD(ELIMINAR)
Research lines
Fetal programming
The fetal origins of health and diseases in adult life requires a detailed analysis of metabolic and inflammatory scenarios during intrauterine life, likely to determine adverse perinatal outcomes. The group will develop an observational study in obese and diabetic pregnant women (as metabolic model of deleterious fetal programming model) and a trial (randomised controlled) study in case of preterm delivery menace (as inflammatory/infectious model).
Gender dimension
The group reinforces its commitment with women's reproductive rights and fight against any form of violence against women through a challenging project called "INLOVE Study", which will design a specific test (questionnaire/scale of measure) to assess the practices and procedures used during induced parts from different viewpoints: women, health professionals and students of medicine.
Gender perspective
The team considers as curcial to assess women's voices, preferences, options, complaints and demands in any gynecological procedures: design of questionnaires or validation of those previously published in cases of cancer, pelvic floor diseases, others.
Epigenetics and endocrine disruptors
Exposure to multiple endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) is an environmental insult that interferes with the development and function of the endocrine system, governed by the hypothalamus-pituitary (HP) axis. This interaction is specially concerning in developmental stages of life, such as the perinatal period and puberty. The project HYPIEND aims to understand the effects of EDC co-exposure in the function and epigenetic programming of the HP axis to delineate interventional strategies for minimising exposure and consequences on the neuroendocrine systemduring the perinatal and pre-pubertal stages.
Breastfeeding action
The group’s collaboration with the Department of Chemistry; Faculty of Experimental Sciences, University of Huelva will continue to determine novel bioactive components in human milk, potentially involved in digestive and neurodevelopment. On the other hand, the team will bring together their database of breast cancer survivors and the experience in breastfeeding counselling in a new study (LMCM-21).
Active projects
Caracterización de Escenarios de Programación Metabólica Adversa: Papel de la Metainflamación Materna en el Imprinting Metabólico Fetal
PIs: Berta Soldevila & Inés Velasco
Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Agency code: PI22/01350
Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2025
Fetal metabolic programming is the adaptive response of the fetus to the circumstances (genetic, nutritional, environmental) that it encounters in the mother and/or in the placenta, and which have consequences for the rest of the individual's life. From pregnant women with an altered metabolic profile, we will analyse those parameters (clinical and biochemical) linked to complications in the offspring. Objectives: To identify pathological routes of metabolic imprinting in early stages of fetal development, from intrauterine environments of metainflammation and metabolic dysregulation, such as maternal obesity and pregestational diabetes.
HYPIEND: Understanding and preventing the impact of endocrine disruptors on the hypothalamus-pituitary axis in sensitive populations
PI: Biotza Gutiérrez Arechederra (EURECAT); PIs at IGTP: Paula Sol Ventura, Inés Velasco López
Funding agency: HORIZON-HLTH-2023-ENVHLTH-02
Agency code: 101137440
Duration: 01/01/2024 - 31/12/2028
Rol de la autoinmunidad tiroidea en escenarios de programación metabólica adversa. Estudio TODAY (Thyroid-Obesity-Diabetes Adequate Yield)
PI: Inés Velasco
Funding agency: Fundación Merck Salud
Duration: 01/01/2023 – 31/12/2025
Thyroid autoimmunity (AIT) is present in about 5-15% of women of childbearing age. Obesity aggravates the pathogenic effect of AIT, increasing the risk of hypothyroidism and, conversely, the presence of anti-thyroid antibodies determines the activity of adipose tissue. Similarly, positivity for antithyroid antibodies is more frequent in type I diabetes and, probably, in gestational diabetes. This project aims to elucidate the role of AIT during pregnancy, especially in adverse situations of fetal programming (proinflammatory environment, insulin resistance), and its involvement in the epigenetic regulation and metabolic profile of newborns.
Past projects
Involvement of maternal thyroid function in foetal metabolic programming
PI: Manel Puig & Inés Velasco
Funding agency: ISCIII
Agency code: PI18/01857
Duration: 01/01/2018 - 30/06/2023
Thyroid hormones intervene in key processes of intrauterine growth and development, as well as in processes of metabolic regulation in adults. However, the role of maternal thyroid hormones as an epigenetic modulator of fetal metabolic programming has not been elucidated. Objectives: To analyze the implication of maternal and neonatal thyroid function in different metabolic programming scenarios, as well as the identification of early detection markers of energy expenditure and epigenetic interest.
Scientific publications
Highlighted publications
Velasco I, Rueda-Etxebarria M, Trak-Fellermeier MA, Taylor P, Rabassa Bonet M, Rueda J-R, Chi Y, Janka H. Iodine supplementation for preventing iodine deficiency disorders in children and adolescents. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2023, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD014475. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD014475.
Velasco I, Vila L, Goya M, Oleaga A, de la Calle M, Santamaria FJ. Executive summary of the SEEN (Sociedad Española de Endocrinología y Nutrición[Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition])-SEGO (Sociedad Española deGinecología y Obstetricia [Spanish Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics]) consensusdocument on the management of thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy. Endocrinol Diabetes Nutr (Engl Ed). 2023 Mar;70 Suppl 1:38-50. DOI: 10.1016/j.endien.2022.11.008.
Pratcorona L, Goya M, Merced C, Rodó C, Llurba E, Higueras T, Cabero L, Carreras E; Trial Group. Cervical pessary to reduce preterm birth <34 weeks of gestation after an episode of preterm labor and a short cervix: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018 Jul;219(1):99.e1-99.e16. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2018.04.031.
Ricart M, Bonacina E, Garcia-Manau P, López M, Caamiña S, Vives À, Lopez-Quesada E, Maroto A, de Mingo L, Pintado E, Ferrer-Costa R, Martín L, Rodriguez-Zurita A, Garcia E, Pallarols M, Pratcorona L, Teixidor M, Orizales-Lago C, Ocaña V, Del Barco E, Carreras E, Suy A, Mendoza M. Placental growth factor at 24-28 weeks for aspirin discontinuation in pregnancies at high risk for preterm preeclampsia: Post hoc analysis of StopPRE trial. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2024 Nov;103(11):2273-2280. DOI: 10.1111/aogs.14955.
Velasco I, Sánchez-Gila M, Manzanares S, Taylor P, García-Fuentes E. Iodine Status, Thyroid Function, and Birthweight: A Complex Relationship in High-Risk Pregnancies. J Clin Med. 2020 Jan 8;9(1):177. DOI: 10.3390/jcm9010177.
News
A European study will analyse the impact of endocrine disruptors during pregnancy and the first 18 months of life
The research is part of the European project HYPIEND, coordinated by the Eurecat technology centre, and with the participation of IGTP-HUGTiP.
IGTP fosters interest in science among young students at a science workshop fair in Badalona
Researchers from IGTP took part in the third edition of "Ciència al carrer: Fira d'ESO amb mirada STEAM", a science outreach event that gathered around 600 students from 14 schools and secondary schools outside the Espai Betúlia in Badalona.
Contact
(+34) 93 497 85 25