12/06/2026 - Institutional news
The Mar Tech Transfer Academy concluded its first edition on 10 June, looking ahead to future editions. Its sixth session, featuring Jordi Martorell, CEO of Aortyx, celebrated the graduation of the projects that took part in the programme. The initiative was created to serve as a bridge between research and the market through three key pillars: sessions led by experienced professionals sharing expertise in areas such as intellectual property protection, fundraising and industrialisation; the provision of support tools to help researchers maximise the value of their projects; and expert guidance throughout the entire process. Judit Cubedo, Managing Director of Hospital del Mar Research Institute, closed the programme by presenting diplomas to the participating researchers. The session concluded with a final networking and working meeting, maintaining the collaborative spirit of the initiative.
11/06/2026 - General information
A new project investigating the mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) receives funding from the Deutsche José Carreras Leukämie Stiftung. The study is co-led by Dr Anna Bigas, Group Leader at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute, and Professor Christoph Plass of the German Cancer Research Center. T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive haematological malignancy that affects both children and adults. Although current treatment regimens achieve remission in a high proportion of patients, resistance to chemotherapy remains the leading cause of relapse and is associated with poor clinical outcomes. Understanding the biological mechanisms that enable certain leukaemic cells to survive treatment is therefore a major unmet medical need and essential for the development of new therapeutic strategies.
10/06/2026 - Press release
CONNECTA Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company pioneering first-in-class neuroplasticity modulators to address unmet medical needs in central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today announced the initiation of its Phase IIa clinical trial evaluating its lead first-in-class program, CTH120, in adult males with fragile X syndrome (FXS). CTH120 is a novel small molecule targeting the tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB), a key regulator of neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to form and adapt neural connections. Impaired neuroplasticity is a core pathophysiological feature in neurodevelopmental disorders and contributes to the clinical manifestations observed in conditions such as FXS. FXS is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability, with an estimated prevalence of approximately 3 per 10,000 individuals.
08/06/2026 - Press release
A study led by the Institut de Neurociències of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona suggests that assessing the relationship between two hormones present in both men and women, estradiol and progesterone, could help better understand how memory works. Assessing the relationship between a person's progesterone and estradiol levels at a given moment could help determine when they are in a biologically optimal state for learning and memory. This is the conclusion of a study led by ICREA researcher Raül Andero at the Institut de Neurociències of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (INc-UAB), which found that the ratio between these two sex hormones measured in saliva can predict participants' performance in a learning and memory task.
Més informació "Can memory be predicted with a saliva test?"
04/06/2026 - General information
At the first edition of the 'Rising Talent for a World without Alzheimer's' event, held at La Pedrera-Casa Milà on 21 May. The first edition of the 'Rising Talent for a World without Alzheimer's' meeting awarded prizes to two researchers linked to the Hospital del Mar Research Institute (HMRIB). The event brought together more than 160 researchers from the seven institutions that make up the HUB Alzheimer Barcelona, in an initiative designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, knowledge exchange and the creation of new synergies.
03/06/2026 - Covid-19
You can now vote for her candidacy! The award is promoted by Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera and La Vanguardia. Aura Muntasell, researcher in the Immunity and Infection Research Group at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and professor in the Department of Cell Biology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), is one of the eight finalists in the fifteenth edition of the Vanguardia Science Award, promoted by Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera and La Vanguardia. You can vote for your favourite finalist until 28 June.
Més informació "Aura Muntasell is one of the eight finalists for the Vanguardia Science Award"
02/06/2026 - Institutional news
Hospital del Mar Research Institute recently hosted the "Clinical Trials in Horizon Europe: Easier Said Than Done" conference, aimed at supporting research managers across Spain working on European clinical trial projects. The event brought together more than 100 attendees from across Spain, including over 40 participants who attended in person and actively contributed to the discussion. The conference was structured around three round table sessions, encouraging open discussion, exchange of practical experiences and active audience participation on some of the main challenges involved in preparing and implementing clinical trials within Horizon Europe.
The first patient trial of the device, which needs to be optimised before clinical application, shows its ability to identify a biomarker of this type of cancer in blood plasma using a low-cost, easy-to-use test strip. The prototype can distinguish the presence of the sAXL biomarker between samples from patients with pancreatic cancer and healthy individuals, indicating its potential application at the point of patient care.
29/05/2026 - Events
A study published in Archivos de Bronconeumologia highlights that three out of four people selected to participate in a lung cancer screening programme because they were at high risk of developing the disease want to quit smoking, but almost 80% rule out quitting if the test result is negative. This shows that the intention to give up the habit does not mean being prepared to do so. They also have a low perception of their risk of developing lung cancer, and 40% do not agree with being considered people at risk of this disease. The work highlights the importance of combining smoking cessation programmes with population screening, so that screening can reach its full potential to reduce lung cancer mortality.
Més informació "Chronic smokers are not prepared to quit smoking"
28/05/2026 - General information
Two studies by the Bronchiectasis Unit at Hospital del Mar point to new ways to address sarcopenia, the progressive loss of muscle mass, in patients diagnosed with bronchiectasis. The studies are published in the journal ERJ Open Research, published by the European Respiratory Society. The Bronchiectasis Unit of the Pulmonology Department at Hospital del Mar has just published two studies in the journal ERJ Open Research that may pave the way for applying new treatments focused on sarcopenia in people diagnosed with bronchiectasis. Their significance lies in the fact that people diagnosed with bronchiectasis show loss of muscle mass early on and in mild and moderate stages of this respiratory disease. This is why it is so important to understand the molecular mechanisms involved.
Més informació "Opening the door to new therapeutic strategies in patients with bronchiectasis"
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