The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) has officially joined the Bioinformatics Barcelona Association (BIB), a non-profit organization focused on the development of the field of bioinformatics in Catalonia.
Established in 2015, the BIB currently comprises 53 major institutions related to the bioinformatics sector – universities, research centers, hospitals, major scientific infrastructures, companies and other partners. It was created in order to generate synergies between biology and information technologies so as to achieve a stronger union between these areas, and to develop high quality education and training programs aimed at the generation of bioinformatic talent.
Bioinformatics is an area of research in which information technologies are used to process biological data; This multidisciplinary activity expands the potential for knowledge generation and technology transfer. All BIB members share the view that more experts are needed in this area, which can be described as a strategic science that even makes more sense nowadays, taking into account the large volume of biological data constantly generated thanks to the latest technologies.
In the field of biomedicine, for example, bioinformatics can help IDIBELL researchers understand the development and progression of a disease and advance towards personalized medicine. In fact, to this day several research groups of the institute are already users or are developing projects related to this field; as part of the BIB community, they can benefit from consultancy services in the design of big data and bioinformatics projects, ad hoc training activities and the possibility of participating in networking and collaboration spaces of high visibility, among others.
The BIB therefore looks for internationally renowned bioinformatics researchers in the Barcelona area to promote a training catalog that includes professional, university, post-university and continuing education actions. The final objective is to encourage research initiatives of excellence in the knowledge and transfer of technology between research groups, hospitals, biotechnological entities and the business, pharmaceutical and agro-food sectors, as well as the increase of innovation and industrial competitiveness.
In order to achieve these objectives, the BIB cooperates with all the actors involved – administration, universities and knowledge centers, companies and society – to turn Barcelona and Catalonia in general into a scientific cluster of reference in southern Europe and a strategic bioinformatics center worldwide. This may be possible thanks to a highly developed ecosystem, a privileged geographical location and the support of various institutions such as the Government of Catalonia.