26/04/2016 - Press release
The expansion of the genetic test allows the detection of newly identified mutations by a team of oncologists at Hospital del Mar and the IMIM that explain a further 10-15% of the resistance to a group of drugs developed by colorectal tumours The resistance caused by EGFR mutations described by the same team of oncologist has been shown to be important in more of 25% of the patients treated using anti-EGFR therapy This work is a clear example of how in just a short time the results of a research project have been transferred to industry, in this case the Belgian multinational Biocartis, and how they have an almost immediate application in patients, improving and personalising colon cancer treatments The patent for the first test was obtained in 2013, the detection kit was marketed in 2014, and it has now been expanded, with a new licence, to include the newly-detected mutations
31/03/2016 - Press release
The Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute and the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, in collaboration with the MútuaTerrassa Foundation, were the only Spanish research centres to participate in the largest study to date into genome association with ischaemic stroke, and which involved around 38,000 patients and 400,000 control subjects. The study, published recently in Lancet Neurology by two international consortia, has led to the identification of a gene implicated in atherothrombotic ischaemic stroke. The team of Dr. Jordi Jiménez-Conde, head of the Genetics Area within the Neurovascular Research Group at the IMIM and a neurologist at the Hospital del Mar, took part in the discovery phase of the study. This first part involved the analysis of nearly 900 samples from stroke patients and 1200 controls from the Hospital del Mar, this being the second-ranked centre internationally according number of cases.
1/03/2016 - Press release
A study published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports from the Nature group demonstrates, for the first time and using computational tools, that polyunsaturated lipids can alter the binding rate of two types of receivers involved in certain nervous system diseases. The work was led by members of the Research Programme on Biomedical Informatics at the IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) and Pompeu Fabra University as well as researchers from the University of Tampere (Finland), and also involved scientists from the University of Barcelona. Using latest-generation molecular simulations, which are like “computational microscopes”, the researchers have demonstrated that a decrease in polyunsaturated lipids in neuronal membranes, as seen in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's sufferers, directly affects the binding rate of dopamine and adenosine receptors.
Més informació "Regulating neuronal membrane lipids could be the key to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's"
11/02/2016 - Press release
People with anxiety disorders have an increased risk of suffering chronic diseases such as heart disease, chronic pain, and peptic ulcers. This is one of the conclusions of a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry, led by the University of Otago (New Zealand) and involving Dr Jordi Alonso, director of the Epidemiology and Public Health programme at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and a CIBERESP researcher. The study found that all kinds of mental health disorders, related to mood, anxiety, and impulse control, as well as substance use disorders, are associated with an increased risk of a wide range of chronic physical diseases. The researchers studied the relationship between mental disorders and ten diseases: arthritis, chronic pain, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, chronic lung disease, peptic ulcers, and cancer.
08/02/2016 - Press release
Researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) have found an epigenetic mechanism implicated in the regulation of blood sugar. The study, published in the journal Molecular Human Genetics, reveals that the methylation of the TXNIP gene is associated with diabetes mellitus type 2 and, in particular, average blood glucose levels. These results, replicated in two patient cohorts, could help to both identify patients at risk of developing diabetes and control treatment response, as well as generating possible future therapies for this disease, one of the major cardiovascular risk factors in the population. The work was coordinated by Carolina Soriano, from the Neurovascular research group at the IMIM, and Jordi Jiménez Conde, from the same group and a neurologist at the Hospital del Mar, in collaboration with the IMIM's Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Genetics group.
08/02/2016 - Institutional news
On February 4, to coincide with World Cancer Day, the AECC-Catalunya contra el Càncer, presented their Cancer Research Grants 2015 at the Drassanes Reials in Barcelona, in a ceremony attended by more than 400 people from the worlds of politics and business, as well as the general public. In this edition the AECC presented a total of €120,000 to six projects by emerging Catalan teams looking at colon cancer, leukaemia, brain tumours, gastrointestinal stromal tumours and prostate and bladder cancer. The winners include a project entitled: “Clinical implications of galectin-1 expression in genitourinary cancer: its role in diagnosis, prognosis and response prediction with immune check point inhibitors”, led by Pilar Navarro, coordinator of the Molecular Mechanisms of Tumorigenesis research group at the IMIM and Alejo Rodríguez-Vida, an oncologist at the Hospital del Mar
27/01/2016 - Press release
According to an epidemiological study carried out by researchers at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), increasing the money you spend on food is linked to a better quality diet, particularly increased consumption of fruit and vegetables, leading to a healthier weight and decreased risk of cardiometabolic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems. The researchers monitored a group of 2181 Spanish men and women aged 25 to 74, all part of the REGICOR (Registre Gironí del Cor) programme, for a period of ten years. They measured their height and weight, and recorded dietary data obtained from a scientifically validated food frequency questionnaire. The average food cost was calculated using official government data.
Més informació "Spending more on food is associated with a healthier diet and weight"
22/12/2015 - Institutional news
Research director of the MAR Health Park of Barcelona who, associated with their research management role, will also have functions as director of the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM).
Més informació "Job position of Research director of the MAR Health Park (PSMAR) of Barcelona"
18/01/2016 - Press release
Researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) in collaboration with scientists from Pompeu Fabra University, the Pasteur Institute andPierre and Marie Curie University, have discovered a crucial neural mechanism that explains the process of nicotine reward and addiction. Nicotine, the principal psychoactive component of tobacco, is quickly absorbed through the nasal, oral and respiratory membranes and takes 7 seconds to reach the brain where the receptors are located. It is there where it acts on the central nervous system as well as the autonomic nervous system. This almost immediate relationship between the inhalation of the smoke and its effect at a cerebral level is one of the factors contributing to the highly addictive nature of nicotine. This is explained by the fact that the nicotine exerts its psychopharmacological effects by activating receptors that are very abundant in several specific regions of the brain, the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR).
Més informació "A novel brain mechanism for nicotine addiction"
11/01/2016 - Press release
Research just published in the journal Plos Genetics has found that gaining new genes during evolution is a much more frequent event than previously thought. It has been seen that there are hundreds of genes that might be unique to humans, and something similar occurs in chimpanzees. Some of these genes will be useful for the organism in question and the rest will disappear in time. The work was led by Mar Albà, an ICREA researcher at the Mar Institute of Medical Research (IMIM) and Jorge Ruiz-Orera, from the same group, together with researchers from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG). For some time it was thought that all new genes originated from other genes, for example, from duplications of already existing genes. But recently it has been seen that some, the so-called de novo genes, originate in genomic regions that previously contained none. According to Mar Albà “This work shows that the formation of DNA motifs, through the accumulation of random mutations, would have been a determining factor in the emergence of new genes.” DNA motifs are elements that activate gene expression.
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