The IDIBELL and the Bellvitge High School Tandem has successfully closed a new academic year. The educational project, which began in 2017, has involved, this year, about 200 students and more than 30 IDIBELL professionals. Through around fifteen activities, the Tandem more than meets its objectives of co-education and transversal implementation of health sciences in high school education, and it does so in a context where several experts have warned of deficiencies in the study of science in the educational system. This closing has coincided with the edition of the 8th issue of the Life&Science magazine, the publication that collects the activities that students and teachers carry out with researchers, technical staff and members from the Communication unit of IDIBELL.
Throughout the 2024-25 academic year, the Tandem has incorporated two unique proposals and has consolidated its structural activities. On the one hand, the students of the Scientific and Artistic Baccalaureate participated, jointly, in the first edition of the practical workshop on scientific illustration, led by Isa Loureiro, a renowned professional in this discipline. The proposal aimed to bring together the scientific and creative perspectives of both academic itineraries to demonstrate that images help to understand biomedicine. Over the course of two sessions, the students learned to interpret IDIBELL microscopy images and to transmit their concepts by creating illustrations. On the other hand, the Tandem also organized a workshop on histological techniques and the observation of biological samples with various types of microscopes, from optical to electronic, including the visualization of fluorescence images. The activity took place at the facilities of the scientific and technological services of IDIBELL and was led by Saioa Mendizuri, Jaume Boix, Lola Mulero, José Llamas and Mireia Torres.
Throughout the year, recently implemented initiatives have also been consolidated, such as the active participation of the Tandem in the sLHam of women scientists, which this year materialized with the intervention of the students Paula Burgos and Joana Omoaruna, who presented to the public their experiences as a result of carrying out the Baccalaureate research work under the tutoring of IDIBELL researchers; and the call, for the third consecutive year, of the illustration contest of Santa Jordina de la Ciència. The winning illustration and the two finalists became congratulatory bookmarks for the festivity, which were given to IDIBELL members.
Linked to the Biomedicine subject of 1st year of baccalaureate, the event that closed the Tandem course was the celebration, at the IDIBELL facilities, of the III Congress of Biomedicine of the URIB. During the day, the students of the subject presented the scientific posters they made throughout the course, focused on topics as diverse as microscopy techniques, ischemia, allergies, lupus, lymphangioleiomyomatosis, asthma or immunity and breastfeeding. The congress featured a plenary talk by the researcher Fran López-Murcia, on neuroscience and the functioning of synapses, and also the participation of the group of IDIBELL predoctoral students and the 4th year ESO students of the scientific itinerary. The activity aroused the interest of the Tot Es Mou programme, on the public television of Catalonia 3Cat, which made a live connection and interviewed the students.
The tandem’s longer-term activities have also had continuity. The URIB designed a new laboratory practice in audiovisual format, which includes an interview with Dr. Maria Molina, scientific director of IDIBELL and specialist in pneumology. The Women in Science project of the Aula L’H programme, carried out by the students of the 2nd year of artistic Baccalaureate, has portrayed the breast cancer researcher Ruth Rodríguez Barrueco. The UniStem Day, aimed at 4th year ESO students on the scientific itinerary, introduced students to the world of stem cell research, and was led by Dr. Begonya Arán, coordinator of the Cell Line Bank. And the 3rd year ESO groups, together with other groups of students from the school, have been involved in the creation of the 8th issue of the magazine Life & Science. Among others, the magazine contains interviews with the scientists participating in the sLHam, chronicles of the workshops held at IDIBELL and the winning texts of the Life & Science scientific literature awards, held annually on the occasion of Sant Jordi.
Finally, throughout the academic year, the Bellvitge High School has also participated in various educational and outreach activities promoted by IDIBELL. An example of this is the Sinergia 2025 open day, where students led a workshop on making DNA bracelets in Bellvitge Park; the L’Hospitalet Science Park, where the workshop on DNA extraction from fruit was held; or the morning mental health workshop Del cap al cos, held in the auditorium of the Bellvitge University Hospital. Finally, and as usual, two students of 1st year of Baccalaureate, Salma Varo and Tanzeela Tanzeela, have begun their Research Work under the co-tutorship of an IDIBELL researcher, Dr. Lucero Munguía, and this summer they have carried out their training stay at the facilities of the research group in Psychoneurobiology of Eating Disorders and Addictive Behaviors.
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a research center established in 2004 specialized in cancer, neuroscience, translational medicine, and regenerative medicine. It counts on a team of more than 1.500 professionals who, from 73 research groups, publish more than 1.400 scientific articles per year. IDIBELL 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).
