At the beginning of May, Edgar Parés from Reus will undertake a sporting and solidarity challenge to raise funds for the fight against brain tumours. Driven by the story of his father’s overcoming of brain tumours, Edgar decided to launch this cycling challenge with the aim of raising €4,000, which will be donated to the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL).
The challenge consists of choosing any mountain anywhere in the world and repeating a specific route, in a single activity, to accumulate a positive difference in altitude greater than Everest, which at 8848 metres is the highest peak in the world. In this case, Parés will complete it on Saturday 4 May at Coll de les Llebres (Alt de la Mussara) in the Baix Camp region, or the following Saturday if the weather conditions are not favourable.
The initiative is collecting donations through the crowdfunding platform “Mi grano de arena“, which will go to the Neuro-oncology research group of the IDIBELL Oncobell programme, led by Dr. Jordi Bruna, who is also coordinator of the Functional Unit of Neuro-Oncology at the Catalan Institute of Oncology and the University Hospital of Bellvitge. They will be invested specifically in a project focused on the research of glioblastoma, which seeks to understand the aggressiveness of this type of cancer in order to propose new therapeutic approaches.
Glioblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumour and is currently incurable. Current treatments offer only very modest survival benefits at considerable cost and, unfortunately, the tumour often recurs within two years and the patient dies soon after. In addition, the brain involvement of the tumour generates a wide spectrum of neurological symptoms, cognitive and personality changes, which place a significant burden on family members. It is therefore necessary to allocate resources to encourage research into glioblastoma in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the tumour and thus promote the development of innovative therapies that can be applied to affected patients in the near future.
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).