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27/06/2025 - General information

Alicia Prieto awarded one of the three Daniel Bravo Foundation fellowships for advanced research in cardiology

Dr. Alicia Prieto, researcher at the Heart Disease Research Group of the Hospital del Mar Research Institute of Barcelona (HMRIB) and cardiologist at Hospital del Mar, has been awarded one of the three Daniel Bravo Foundation Fellowships to carry out advanced research in cardiology at leading international centers, including the Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec (IUCPQ).

Dr. Prieto will spend nine months at the Department of Interventional Cardiology at IUCPQ, led by Dr. Josep Rodés-Cabau.

Her research focuses on whether the use of plaque modification techniques is safe and effective after one year of treatment in patients with severe aortic stenosis who are candidates for TAVI, as part of the project Multicenter real-world registry on plaque modification techniques in TAVI population. Currently, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is the main therapeutic option for these patients.

"This project could improve therapeutic strategies, patient safety and clinical outcomes. We want to evaluate whether plaque modification techniques improve revascularization before or after TAVI, and whether they reduce symptoms and adverse events. We will also assess safety by comparing complication risks across different strategies", explains Dr. Beatriz Vaquerizo, Head of the Cardiology Department at Hospital del Mar and Prieto's mentor.

"Although these techniques are already in use at Hospital del Mar, this stay at an international reference center like IUCPQ will allow me to deepen my knowledge of advanced strategies and gain experience in a high-volume TAVI environment. These are valuable insights that can enhance both our local clinical practice and high-impact research. Personally, the Daniel Bravo Fellowship is a key boost to my professional development", highlights Prieto.

Doctor Alicia Prieto

The other two fellowship recipients are:

Dr. Marc Soriano, researcher at the Clinical and Translational Cardiology Group at the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and electrophysiologist at Hospital de Sant Pau, will complete a nine-month fellowship at the Clinique Pasteur in Toulouse, working with Dr. Serge Boveda, Head of the Arrhythmia Department and Secretary of the European Heart Rhythm Association.

His project, Persistent atrial fibrillation ablation with different systems of Pulsed-Field Ablation (PFA), aims to analyze the effectiveness of this new pulsed-field ablation technique compared to radiofrequency in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation - one of the most common arrhythmias with limited response to current treatments.

Aniol Bosch, PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Girona (UdG) and researcher at Eurecat, will spend six months at the Singapore Center for 3D Printing (SC3DP) at Nanyang Technological University, working with Dr. Paulo Jorge Da Silva Bartolo, a world-renowned expert in advanced manufacturing and 3D printing.

In recent years, Eurecat and UdG have developed various manufacturing technologies to address the shortcomings of current stents in patients with arterial disease and type 2 diabetes. Through the Designing the Stent of the Future project, an innovative tubular technology based on photopolymerization has been developed. The team is also studying the fabrication of bioabsorbable polymeric stents using new photosensitive materials and 3D printing, which could minimize arterial wall damage, preserve vessel flexibility, and reduce complications.

The Daniel Bravo Andreu Private Foundation supports scientific talent and promotes high-impact biomedical research in Catalonia - academically, clinically and socially - through the Daniel Bravo Fellowships, active since 2014.

These fellowships are aimed at researchers from public hospitals and research centers in Catalonia working in cardiology and non-invasive diagnostic techniques. They last between three and nine months and provide a monthly stipend of 3,000€ for the entire duration.

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