As has been tradition, the IDIBELL women scientists’ sLHam held yesterday on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, 11th February, did not leave anyone indifferent. With the Barradas Auditorium packed to its capacity, this year’s 8 participants -Elisa Espinet, Laura Aregui, Sara Martí, Elvira Fernández, Ayesha Akhtar, Roser Granero, Carlota Castro and Carmen Moreno- showed off their short monologues in which thet explained their daily life as girls and women in science. All of them shared with the audience the barriers they have had to overcome to get to where they are, making visible the reality of scientific work and demonstrating that talent in this field is increasingly female.

Following the novelty of last year, this edition has again included the profile of junior slhamera thanks to the participation of Ayesha, student of the Institut Bellvitge, who developed her research work in IDIBELL laboratories under the tutelage of Drs. Francisco Ciruela and Marc López-Cano, and another of the sLHameres of the night, Elvira, science teacher at the Institut Bellvitge. The possibility of such collaborations that allow the approach of the youngest to professional research, and thus seeks to promote scientific vocations, is given by the Tandem Educatiu project developed jointly by the Institut Bellvitge and IDIBELL.

The highlight of the event was the announcement of the winner of the 7th sLHam, who won the famous golden pipette. Through a live vote, the audience decided to crown Sara Martí who captivated the audience with her monologue about the microbiota and fecal transplant.

After the performance of all the participants this year, the director of IDIBELL, Gabriel Capellá, dedicated a few words to the audience underlining that “the sLHam highlights the excellence of our scientists and also the diverse and multidisciplinary science of IDIBELL, an institution which, on the other hand, is clearly positioned in favor of correcting gender inequalities and which monitors internally to detect and prosecute any violence”. In turn, the deputy mayor of L’Hospitalet, Laura Garcia, congratulated all the slhameres and valued the success of events such as the sLHam, which demonstrate the great potential of Bellvitge. “We want to be a city of knowledge, one of the main poles of research in southern Europe, and for that we need to walk together with the scientists of IDIBELL”.

The sLHam is organised in collaboration with the Barradas Auditorium, the School of Music and Arts Centre of L’Hospitalet, the Bellvitge Institute, the City Council of Hospitalet de Llobregat, LHCiència and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT). The initiative is also supported by the companies Aire Ancient Baths, BioNova Científica, LabClinics, Sarstedt, Muji, Caves Pagès Entrena and Metropolitan Gran Via, which provide the prizes for the participants.

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).