IDIBELL has been deeply involved in the programme of L’Hospitalet’s Mental Health Month, organizing two activities that attracted significant public interest. On the one hand, and for the second consecutive year, three hundred students from the city had the opportunity to attend and take part in the morning session Del cap al cos, held in the auditorium of Bellvitge University Hospital. The event featured IDIBELL researchers and hospital professionals, who discussed major mental health issues affecting adolescents and young people. On the other hand, as part of the Pessics de Ciència cycle, a public lecture was offered on the neurobiology of gambling addictions.
“Del cap al cos”, a morning session for young people
During the Del cap al cos event, held on October 30, several topics were addressed: eating disorders, with Carmen M. Moreno and Fernando Santos Blas; alcohol and substance addiction, with Ana Belén Martínez; stress, with Anabel Navarro; and screen addiction, with Maria Boixadera. All are professionals from IDIBELL research groups in Psychiatry and in the Psychoneurobiology of Eating Disorders and Addictive Behaviours, and also from the Clinical Psychology Service at Bellvitge University Hospital. The event, which encouraged student participation, was hosted and facilitated by Sara Sansuan and opened by Dr. Fernando Fernández Aranda, Director of the Eating Disorders Unit at Bellvitge Hospital and IDIBELL researcher; Constanza Saavedra, Head of Communication and Fundraising at IDIBELL; Dr. Javier Tapia, Bellvitge Hospital Commissioner for the Smart Health Community Project; and David Quirós, Mayor of L’Hospitalet.
Fernández Aranda pointed out that “given the increase in recent years in the diagnosis of mental health disorders, especially among young people, it is more important than ever to remove the stigma surrounding this very real issue. The numbers don’t lie: one in seven young people has or will have a mental health disorder.” In turn, Quirós emphasized that young people “are not only the future of the city, but also part of the present, and they must be taken into account.”
“Quan el cervell aposta”, the neurobiology behind game addiction
With the auditorium of the Sant Josep Cultural Centre packed, Dr. Isabel Baenas, IDIBELL researcher, explained how the brain responds in the context of gambling and what neurobiological mechanisms can promote risk behaviours. Baenas shared recent findings from her research group, a pioneer at both national and international levels, presenting study results that help to better understand gambling addiction and what science tells us about its prevention and clinical management.
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).