On Wednesday 12th January, two representatives of the association “Si jo puc, tu també #epilep” (meaning “if I can, you can too”) handed over a € 3,000 check to IDIBELL and Bellvitge University Hospital to help fund their research on epilepsy. The event was attended by two researchers from the neuroscience program: Mercè Falip, principal investigator of the research group in Neurological Diseases and Neurogenetics at IDIBELL, and Jacint Sala Padró, researcher in the group of Cognition and Brain Plasticity also of the IDIBELL, Bellvitge University Hospital and the University of Barcelona.

The purpose of this donation is to promote the study of memory loss in patients with epilepsy. It is also expected to help improve their quality of life. Remember that this patology is the most common neurological disease of all: 7 out of every 1000 people have epilepsy and it affects 50 million people globally.

The association “Si jo puc, tu també #epilep” was born in 2018 in Tarragona, with the aim of making epilepsy known through sporting events, talks and other activities. One of their missions is to raise money to help fund research into the disease.

The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a biomedical research center created in 2004. It is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

IDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centers accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the “HR Excellence in Research” program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Center of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).