From 5 to 7 November, the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) was held in L’Hospitalet. IDIBELL has been present, on the one hand, participating in a central conference on the future BioCluster of the city and, on the other, participating in the L’Hospitalet city council stand, especially dedicated to scientific dissemination and bringing research closer to the general public.
On Tuesday morning, the first day, and in podcast format, Drs. Alberto Ortega and Sandra Acosta, IDIBELL and UB researchers, conducted the conference “Innovation in research and health”. They talked about the use of organoids of the human nervous system for personalized medicine and innovation in digital health for healthcare. Next, the B-Active initiative was presented, led by Dr. Paula Jakszyn, from the nutrition and cancer research group at IDIBELL and ICO, and Dr. Jordi Vilaró, from the Blanquerna Faculty of Health Sciences. Thanks to the support of Serious Games Lab, they will develop an application that promotes healthier lifestyles among the population and thus helps prevent diseases, all using gamification methods. In the afternoon, Drs. Lucero Munguía and Isabel Baena, from IDIBELL and Bellvitge Hospital, carried out the workshop “Integration of therapeutic approaches for impulsivity disorders through gamification and new technologies”, where they showed nursing assistant students the uses of gamification with serious games to control impulsivity associated with addictions.
On Wednesday at the Orange Agora space, the conference “BioCluster for innovation and health: an alliance to lead health research in Europe” took place. Gabriel Capellá, director of IDIBELL and researcher, together with Josep Comín, director of Innovation, Research and Universities at the Bellvitge University Hospital and Viladecans Hospital and head of the IDIBELL cardiology research group, Neus Olea, deputy general director of the L’Hospitalet i Baix Llobregat Business Association (AEBALL) and Laura García, L’Hospitalet City Rights Deputy Mayor. The panel discussion addressed the creation of the Innovation and Health Biocluster and the main projects that the alliance partners are developing with the aim of turning the metropolitan area of Barcelona into a scientific pole of reference in southern Europe.
Today, the last day of the congress, a round table on humanization in healthcare environments has taken place with Gemma Via, nursing researcher at IDIBELL and Bellvitge Hospital, Mònica Ramoneda, science journalist, and Lia Tamar, nurse at Bellvitge Hospital.
The L’Hospitalet BioCluster, personalized medicine and innovation in health
The L’Hospitalet BioCluster is a project promoted by the City Councils of L’Hospitalet and Esplugues, the Bellvitge University Hospital, the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), the Hospital de Sant Joan de Déu and the University of Barcelona that aims to promote advanced and personalized medicine, emphasizing three fundamental axes: precision medicine, through advanced technologies to manage health data and thus improve diagnosis and treatment adapted to each patient; citizen empowerment, promoting more participatory healthcare with telecare solutions, remote monitoring and the use of integrated data, and economic development, with the attraction of investments and the generation of highly qualified jobs in the biomedical sector, thus positioning Catalonia as a benchmark for multinationals in the sector.
This project, which makes L’Hospitalet a leading model in personalized medicine, joins other metropolitan scientific centers of reference. It is expected to generate 30,000 direct jobs; it will have an impact of 4,400 million euros, 1.82% of Catalonia’s total GDP, and will become the biomedical capital of southern Europe.
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).