Both in the professional and social spheres, women suffer from micro-violence that often goes unnoticed. This is the case, for example, of gender bias when accessing a job, or the invisibility and devaluation of their intellectual value. And the world of science is not immune to it. To highlight the role of women in our research system and bring their work and demands closer to society, IDIBELL organizes the sLHam of scientists, an initiative that is now in its seventh edition this year.
After six successful editions, the sLHam of 2024 will take place on Thursday, February 8 at 7 p.m. in the Barradas Auditorium in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat and will feature six researchers and scientific professionals from IDIBELL and two slhamers from the Bellvitge Institute, a professor of natural sciences and a student who has done her high school research work in IDIBELL’s laboratories thanks to the Educational Tandem project developed by both institutions. The protagonists who will take the stage will be: Elisa Espinet, Laura Arregui, Sara Martí, Roser Granero, Carlota Castro and Carmen Moreno from IDIBELL, and Elvira Fernàndez and Ayesha Akhtar from the Bellvitge Institute. Each of them will explain, in a five-minute monologue, their research, their passion for science, the challenges they pursue and the obstacles they may have had to overcome throughout their career.
The event, created to commemorate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and bring research closer to the public in a relaxed and festive way, will be led by Júlia Benito, IDIBELL’s scientific communicator. A young musical group from the School of Music and Arts Center of L’Hospitalet, Manouche Rouge, will be in charge of enlivening the show with musical performances.
As is tradition, the audience will actively participate in the event by choosing, by popular vote, the best monologue of the sLHam. The event, with free entry, will raise funds in the form of a reverse box office, and all the voluntary contributions of the spectators will be used entirely to promote IDIBELL’s biomedical research.
The sLHam is part of the LHCiència strategy and is organized with the collaboration of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat Town Council, the Barradas Auditorium, the School of Music and Arts Center of L’Hospitalet, of the Bellvitge Institute and of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT). The initiative is also supported by Bionova, LabClinics, Aire Ancient Baths, Caves Pagès Entrena, Muji, Sarstedt and Metropolitan Club, companies that provide the prizes for the participants.
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a biomedical research centre created in 2004. It is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Health Institute, the ‘Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of Hospitalet de Llobregat.
IDIBELL is a member of the International Excellence Campus 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 centres accredited as a health research institute by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. 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 Fundación Científica AECC (FCAECC).