This Friday 25th November, the seventh edition of IDIBELL PhD Day was held at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Bellvitge Campus of the University of Barcelona. This edition, organized by the committee of predoctoral researchers in collaboration with various units of IDIBELL, promotes knowledge and encourages the exchange of ideas and possible collaborations. In addition, after two years of COVID 19 pandemic, which made us adapt the format of this conference, this one has been the first edition after returning to normality. With the participation of 150 researchers, teaching staff and other members of the IDIBELL community.
The congress began with an opening ceremony by three important members of the institution: Cristina Mayordomo, representative of the scientific direction; Dr. Carolina Florian and Dr. Julián Cerón, representatives of the research areas of Regenerative Medicine and Translational Research of IDIBELL, respectively; as well as Carolina Martinez and Joan Roncero, as representatives of the Predoctoral Committee.
This seventh edition consisted of 9 oral presentations and 45 scientific posters, which were evaluated by an independent jury composed by different IDIBELL researchers, which evaluated not only the scientific quality but the ability to transmit the knowledge of each participant. The prize for best oral presentation was awarded to Ilias Moraitis, the best poster by jury vote went to Raúl Marín, and best poster by popular vote went to Joan Pera.
In addition, this year we had the special participation of Dr. Silve Vicent, leader of the “Oncogenes and Effector Targets” group which is part of the Solid Tumours and Biomarkers Programme at the Centre for Applied Medicine Research (CIMA) located at the University of Navarra, where he is also an associate professor. Dr. Vicent illustrated us in the plenary lecture of this PhD Day 2022, talking about “An integrative view for life and research: From the Renaissance man to the PhD student and beyond”. Moreover, there was also a round table discussion on the different uses of experimental models considering both their biological and ethical aspects as well as the great progress that these models have meant for science as we know it today. The debate was composed by four renowned scientists: Patrick Aloy (IRB), Berta Alsina (PRBB-UPF), Kristina Haase (EMBL) and, last but not least, Jesus Ruberte (UAB). During the round table, the advantages, limitations and future perspectives on the different types of experimental models were discussed.
After the intense but exciting day, Dr. Gabriel Capellá presented the PhD Day 2022 awards, which in this edition have been gift cards of different values, as well as IDIBELL merchandising to the winners. Finally, with a brief ceremony closing speech, the director concluded this seventh edition of PhD Day 2022.
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).