The Cultural Center La Bòbila in L’Hospitalet hosted, on Friday June 18, the closing of the 21st Scientific and Technological Conference of Baccalaureate, an act that distinguished the students who have carried out the best research projects in the educational centers of the city. In the field of experimental projects, the second prize went to the Bellvitge Institute student Fatima Akhtar, author of the work Which factors increase cancer risk, co-tutored by the researcher of the IDIBELL Hereditary Cancer group Dr. Marta Pineda and by the teacher Elvira Fernández. The first prize was awarded to María Maturana, a student at the Mercè Rodoreda Institute, for her work Bacteremias. How to speed up diagnosis and treatment to save more lives, co-tutored by Dr. Miriam Torrecillas, researcher at IDIBELL and doctor of the Microbiology and Parasitology service of the Bellvitge University Hospital, and by the teacher Rosario Guerrero.

Chaired by Mr. David Quirós, Deputy Mayor for Education, Innovation and Culture of the city council, the event was presented and conducted by Joan Duran, scientific communicator at IDIBELL and member of the organizing committee of the Conference, which highlighted the work of the various institutions of the city of L’Hospitalet in gathering the views of all those people and organizations that make and disseminate science, with the aim of promoting the democratization of knowledge and building spaces for dialogue between the scientific community, society and, in a particularly intense way, with the educational world.

The closing of the Conference also had a scientific presentation by Dr. Anna Clopés, director of Knowledge and Research, and Pharmacy and Drug Policy of the Catalan Institute of Oncology. Dr. Clopés spoke to students and teachers about the importance of research and innovation to reduce the impact of cancer, based on the experience and historical milestones of the ICO.

Finally, the event recognized the participants in the 1st edition of Young Scientific Talents in L’H, a project of the Catalan Foundation for Research aimed at primary school students and teachers, in which the IDIBELL Communication Unit took part. And awarded, among others, the Bellvitge Institute, with whom IDIBELL carries out an educational Tandem, for being one of the city centers with the most awarded works during this edition of the Conference.