Four research teams from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have been awarded by La Marató 3Cat Foundation, which, yesterday afternoon on the Catalan public television’s set 1, announced the projects that will receive funding from the La Marató 2022 edition. The awarded IDIBELL research groups will work over the next 3 years to find answers in the field of cardiovascular health. Heart and circulatory system diseases have a high impact on people’s quality and life expectancy: they are the main cause of death and hospital admission in developed countries. In Catalonia, 45 people die every day, two every hour, due to a health problem of this type.
The IDIBELL principal investigators who will be able to start their new research projects thanks to this solidarity program are: Dr. Ignasi Anguera Camos, also head the Arrhythmias and Electrophysiology Unit of the Bellvitge University Hospital, who will carry out a clinical trial to prevent cardiomyopathy; Dr. Cristina Enjuanes Grau, also physician at the Multidisciplinary Community Heart Failure Unit of the Bellvitge University Hospital, who will lead a cardiac rehabilitation project focused on coronary heart disease patients; Dr. José López López, who will study periodontal disease and hypertension; and Dr. Ángel Raya Chamorro, who is going to analyze the clinical translation of iPSC-based cell therapies for heart failure. The latter two projects, will be executed in coordination with other institutions. In total, the funds that IDIBELL will receive amount to €685,320.
The 2022 edition of La Marató raised a total of 11.2 million euros, which will allow 71 research teams to carry out 37 projects in cardiovascular health to move forward in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of such diseases, which are the leading cause of death in developed countries. In 31 years of experience, La Marató has financed a total of 1,022 research projects.
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).