Next Tuesday, December 17 will take place the Conference “Characterization of microparticles (MPs) by flow cytometry. Its usefulness as a clinical biomarker in different pathologies” organized by the IDIVAL Flow Cytometry and Cell Separation Unit in collaboration with Beckman Coulter.

The day will consist of two activities:

8:00 – 10: 00 – Téllez Plasencia Room – Pab 16 HUMV

Lecture given by Dr. Claudia Maria Radu (Department of Women's and Children's Health and Thrombotic Haemorrhagic Diseases Unit, University of Padua.

11:00 – 13: 00h – Cytometry unit- IDIVAL Ed.

Practical workshop: characterization of microparticles by flow cytometry, taught by Carmen Pérez Robles (Beckman Coulter application specialist)

The microparticles (MP) are a heterogeneous population of 100-1000 nm micro-vesicles, released from the surface of the plasma membrane of various cell types, such as platelets, erythrocytes, granulocytes, monocytes, lymphocytes, dendritic and endothelial cells. The MPs express specific proteins of the cells from which they are derived, which allows the identification of the cell type.

The release of MP is a highly controlled process driven by different stimuli, such as proinflammatory cytokines, infectious agents, lipoproteins, oxidative stress, etc. Although they are detectable in the peripheral blood of healthy individuals, they can significantly increase the pathological condition, such as atherosclerosis and hypertension, which allows them to be considered biomarkers of diseases.

By means of flow cytometry techniques, circulating MP can be identified and quantified in patients with different inflammatory pathologies to study its usefulness as a biomarker of activity.

Dr. Radu has extensive experience in the characterization by flow cytometry of microvesicles and exosomes and in the study of activation and reactivity of circulating platelets in various cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, coagulation disorders, among other pathologies.

The conference is open to all Santander public who wants to participate and certificates of assistance will be issued to those who request it. To participate in the workshop, please contact the email address citometria@idival.org

Activity pending accreditation by the CFCPS

The Neurophthalmology Unit of the Liencres-HUMV Hospital has studied the involvement of retinal structures (ganglion cells) and optic nerve (nerve fiber layer) in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) using coherence tomography optical (OCT).

In this study, published in the journal 'Alzheimers Dement (N Y)' the authors analyze the use of the thickness measurement of these structures in order to define a diagnostic screening test for AD.

This work is part of the Doctoral Thesis of the Ophthalmologist Alicia López de Eguileta directed by Doctors Pascual Sánchez Juan (Neurologist) and Alfonso Casado Rojo (Ophthalmologist) and the Cognitive Deterioration Unit of the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital Service and the Nuclear Medicine Service (HUMV) and the Ophthalmology Service of the Liencres Hospital.

We demonstrate with this work that patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment, before showing clinical dementia, have a thinning in the thickness of the ganglion cells and nerve fiber layer. In this way, we suggest that there is damage to the retina and optic nerve prior to the development of dementia in AD. Therefore, we are facing a possible marker of early diagnosis in this disease.

There is previous literature that demonstrated changes in the retina and optic nerve in patients with established AD. However, this article is a pioneer in the study of these tissues in vivo in patients with an early stage of the disease categorized with PET and Pittsburgh compound B as a radiotracer.

Within the thesis of Dr. López de Eguileta we have results pending publication of other possible biomarkers and we continue to expand the sample to verify the reliability of the results obtained, thanks to the healthy volunteers of the Valdecilla Cohort for the study of Memory and the Brain Aging recruited by the Cognitive Deterioration Unit of the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital Service.

Ref. Ganglion cell layer thinning in prodromal Alzheimer's disease defined by amyloid PET. López-de-Eguileta A, Lage C, López-García S, Pozueta A, García-Martínez M, Kazimierczak M, Bravo M, de Arcocha-Torres M, Banzo I, Jimenez-Bonilla J, Cerveró A, Rodríguez-Rodríguez E, Sánchez-Juan P, Casado A. Alzheimers Dement (N Y). 2019 Oct 9;5:570-578. doi: 10.1016/j.trci.2019.08.008. eCollection 2019. PMID: 31650013

Dr. López de Eguileta Dr. Pascual Sánchez Juan

The National Call for Nursing Valdecilla aims to encourage the participation of Nursing Professionals in the development and development of Research Projects.

In total, a total of 13 projects have been admitted for evaluation and after the evaluation of the Evaluation Commission it has been decided to grant financing to the following projects:

Best Project:

– TITLE: “La aceptación incondicional de la persona con problemas de salud mental por parte de la enfermera: explorando su significado en el proceso de la Relación Terapéutica”

– MAIN RESEARCHER: Gemma Cardó Vila.

– REST RESEARCH TEAM: Maria Rosario Valera Fernández, Teresa Vives Abril, Antonio Rafael Moreno Poyato, Andrea Aznar Huerta, Juan Manuel Leyva Moral.

– FILIATION: Center Fòrum de l'Hospital del Mar. Center of Mental Health of Sant Martí School of Nursing of the Sea. Faculty of Medicine. Parc de Salut Mar in Barcelona.

-Best project to develop in Valdecilla:

– TITLE: “Impacto, eficacia, aplicabilidad y satisfacción de un programa de apoyo a los centros de educación infantil y primaria de Cantabria con alumnado afectado por fibrosis quística”.

– MAIN RESEARCHER: Elena Rivas Cilleros.

– REST RESEARCH TEAM: José Carlos López Alonso, Patricia Rodríguez Fernández, Ángela Fernández Rodríguez, Rocío Sancho Gutiérrez, Elena Pérez Belmonte, Javier Velasco Montes.

– FILIATION: Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital. Office of Chronicity of the Cantabrian Health Service. Ministry of Health of the Government of Cantabria. Leza hospital.

The awards ceremony was held within the 21 Valdecilla Nursing Conference held on November 20 and 21 at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital.

Resolution (link)

IDIVAL is pleased to report that next Wednesday, December 4, we will hold an information session on the “HORIZON 2020 AND ERC PROGRAM (EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCIL)”, focusing especially on the new calls for social challenge 1 (Juan Riese, ISCIII) and Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grants of the ERC program (Laura Mohedano, ISCIII).

This event is organized by the European projects area of IDIVAL and the OPE of the Carlos III Health Institute. We are sure that these days will be of interest to researchers and will help managers to keep up with the rules of participation.

As we anticipated, the day will be held on Wednesday, December 4 and will take place in the Téllez Plasencia Hall of the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital that has a capacity for about 100 people. We would be grateful if you reserve this date in your agendas and help us with the dissemination of the event among the members of your research group.

The provisional programme of the day is as follows:

10:15 Presentation of the Day

10:30 Financing opportunities in social challenge 1 of H2020 (Juan Riese, Scientific – Technical Advisor and NCP National Health Expert (H2020))

11:15 Call for ERC: Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grants (Laura Mohedano, ISCIII Communication, and NCP of the European Research Council (ERC))

12:00 Pause (Coffee)

12:30 Successful experiences in Cantabria

13:30 Round Table / Workshop

Table 1: Preparation of an H2020 proposal. Moderator: Juan Riese

Table 2: Preparation of an ERC proposal. Moderator: Laura Mohedano

The approximate duration will be about 3 hours, starting at 10.30 and ending at 13.30.

In the last part of the day we will organize two round tables focused on the preparation of proposals for the H2020 and ERC calls, Juan Riese and Laura Mohedano will act as moderators, guiding the proposals and resolving doubts and concerns, we would appreciate prior confirmation of interest for participation at these tables since places are limited (5-10 people per table).

Contact details:

Paloma Gonzalez: Phone 942202857 or email innovacion4@idival.org

We are very excited about this day and we hope you have a very good reception among the research community and are encouraged to participate in European projects.

Antibiotics are medications that destroy or inactivate bacteria. These drugs are very useful against infections, but the misuse we have made of them in recent decades has caused them to lose their ability to destroy pathogenic bacteria. This is because bacteria have begun to become resistant to many antibiotics at once.

Modern medicine rests on a mattress of antibiotics. If antibiotics do not work, then many medical techniques cannot be performed and the number of deaths due to infections caused by “superbugs” would grow exponentially.

Bacteriophages or “phages” are viruses that parasitize bacteria. They have a very large potential because they can be used against bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics.

These phages can be used to fight superficial infections, although scientists are trying to make them application systemically as well. If they achieve this, the phages could be a good help for a combination therapy with antibiotics, which would have much better results.

IDIVAL Institute researchers have collaborated with scientists from 5 other national hospitals and with a research group from the University of Ghent in Belgium to study one of these phages. Specifically, they have modified a virus that parasites the Acinetobacter baumannii Superbacterium to study its infection cycle. The team of Dr. Jose Ramos Vivas, of the IDIVAL Cellular Microbiology laboratory, has used the IDIVAL advanced microscopy service to take photographs and videos of the phage infection process.

This phage has been genetically modified to attack the bacteria faster and better, a technique that could be used in the future to optimize the infection process of these viruses and make them more effective. This work also suggests again that phages or some of their enzymes are an alternative or a supplement to antibiotic therapy, which in many cases is no longer working.

Ref. Combined Use of the Ab105-2OΔCI Lytic Mutant Phage and Different Antibiotics in Clinical Isolates of Multi-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. Microorganisms, 7 (11) Nov 2019. DOI: 10.3390 / microorganisms7110556

The photograph shows an Acinetobacter bacteria being attacked by phages (red). 

The scale bar indicates one micron in length.

The Neurophthalmology and Glaucoma Unit of the Liencres-HUMV Hospital has studied the correlation of visual fields with the results of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in a study that includes 161 patients.

In this study, published in the journal 'PlosOne', the authors analyze the reliability of two protocols for the diagnosis and follow-up of glaucoma, one recently implanted (ganglion cell analysis) and the other more widely used (fiber layer analysis nervous) and its correlation with the results of the visual fields. In addition, they analyze which analysis of the two has more profitability in the usual clinical practice and which is the most reliable test for the early diagnosis of glaucoma.

This work is part of the study of ganglion cells and other layers of the retina, structures that this service is analyzing for the early diagnosis of neurological diseases, as well as for situations of more common use in clinical practice, such as the early diagnosis of Hydroxychloroquine retinopathy.

In this work, led by Dr. Alfonso Casado, the members of the glaucoma team (Juan Carlos González, Gema Pacheco and Elena Gándara) have collaborated, as well as Raúl Fernández, Soraya Fonseca and the head of service, Miguel Á. Gordo Vega and has been prepared mainly by the doctors Andrea Cerveró and Alicia López de Eguileta, who are developing several research projects, on glaucoma and Alzheimer's disease, respectively. Several works are already published and others pending acceptance in international journals.

This work shows that both the most modern study of ganglion cells, and that of the nerve fiber layer – older – are reliable in diagnosing and following patients with glaucoma, and that the second is more sensitive and specific.

Thanks to this study in the future, the need for visual fields can be reduced, which can reduce costs and speed up the usual consultation.

Alicia López de Eguileta, Andrea Cerveró y Alfonso Casado

Ref. Topographic correlation and asymmetry analysis of ganglion cell layer thinning and the retinal nerve fiber layer with localized visual field defects. Casado A, Cerveró A, López-de-Eguileta A, Fernández R, Fonseca S, González JC, Pacheco G, Gándara E, Gordo-Vega MÁ. PLoS One. 2019 Sep 11;14(9):e0222347. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222347. eCollection 2019. PMID: 31509597

Next Thursday, November 28, will be the third conference of the IV edition of the Santander Biomedical Lectures Program organized by IDIVAL, the University of Cantabria and the IBBTEC given by Dr. José Obeso Inchausti with the title “Two Centuries of advances in the disease of Parkinson: Challenges and Perspectives. ”

Dr. José Obeso is a specialist in Neurology and Neurophysiology. He directs the Comprehensive NeuroCiences Center of HM CINAC.

The Dr. Obeso is a Neurologist and Professor of Neurology at the Faculty of Medicine of the CEU San Pablo University. He graduated from the University of Navarra in 1976 and specialized in Neurology and Neurophysiology in San Sebastián and Pamplona. Between 1980 and 1982 he specialized in Parkinson's disease and movement disorders with Professor C. David Marsden at King's College Hospital, Institute of Psychiatry in London, which was an exciting and decisive period in his career.
Dr. José Obeso has been dedicated to the care of patients with Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders and research, both clinical and laboratory. He has been a pioneer (together with Tom Chase and Fabriccio Stochi) in the development of the concept of “Continuous Dopaminergic Stimulation” for Parkinson's disease and has played an important role in the recent revitalization of surgical treatments for that disease. He has published more than 350 original research articles and 90 reviews in journals, has published 18 books and monothematic supplements in medical journals and in 98 book chapters and has contributed to the latest edition of Harrison`s Principles of Medicine.

His current Hirsch index is 70, the highest in Spanish neurology. He is also editor in chief of the Movement Disorders Journal, since 2010.

In October 2016 he was appointed Academic of Number by the Royal National Academy of Medicine occupying the armchair No. 48 of Neurology and in November 2016 the director of HM CINAC, José Ángel Obeso has been elected “Doctor of the Year”.

He is one of the Spanish doctors with the greatest international projection and a reference in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

The conference is open to all the public of Santander who wants to participate. It will take place on Thursday, November 28 at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, at the Asembly Hall (Hall 21 floor -1) at 8.15 in the morning.

Promoting a discussion forum on the current advances in biomedicine, the rapporteur will remain in our Community throughout the day of the session, to exchange experiences with members of the scientific and clinical community of Santander, and to visit the research centers of our community to meet interested scientists firsthand.

The rapporteur is invited by Dr. Jon Infante, Section Chief of the neurology department of HUMV and Head of the Research Group on Neurodegenerative Diseases at IDIVAL. Those professionals who wish to have a meeting with the rapporteur during their visit can get in touch through the following e-mails: jon.infante@scsalud.es or proyectos1@idival.org

The Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), attached to the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, opened on November 14 the call for aid for the promotion of scientific, technological and innovation culture, whose objective is to finance science dissemination and communication projects that companies, universities, foundations and public research centers, among others, carry out between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021 to bring research, technology and innovation closer to the citizens.

The projects subject to the aid are grouped around the following lines of action:

1. Scientific, technological and innovation culture

2. Education and scientific vocations

3. Citizen Science

4. Communication and dissemination networks of science and innovation

5. Communication and dissemination networks of science and innovation

a. Network of Scientific Culture and Innovation Units

b. Science Fairs

The deadline to submit the application to final is until December 17 until 1 p.m. and the deadline to electronically sign applications until December 18 at 1 p.m.

For more information access the following link:

https://www.convocatoria.fecyt.es/Publico/Bases/Bases.aspx

It is advisable to inform the National Projects Unit (Fondosnacionales@idival.org) in advance of the intention to request a project.

The AECC Scientific Foundation's Assistance Programs have the objective of financing cancer research in Spain. A quality investigation for the benefit of the general population and patients, covering from the basic knowledge of this disease to its clinical application.

The aid program that the AECC Foundation summons are the following:

AECC 2020 researcher

Granting of grants to researchers with previous postdoctoral training for the development of a cancer research project in a Spanish center to support these researchers in their scientific career towards the creation of their own lines of research.

Application deadline: From November 7 to December 12, 2019

AECC Strategic Projects

Fund strategic research projects for the AECC and cancer patients. General research projects in cancer, projects in rare cancers and childhood cancer, prevention, palliative and epidemiology.

Economic endowment: 300,000 euros gross at 3 years at a rate of 100,000 euros gross per year.

Application deadline: From November 7 to January 30, 2020.

Seed Ideas

The purpose of this call is to finance the generation of new innovative cancer research opportunities that, in case of success, can be carried out in solid research projects.

Application deadline: From November 7 to November 28, 2019

LAB AECC 2020

Support emerging groups to consolidate their research lines by granting financial aid from the AECC Scientific Foundation to quality research projects in cancer with clear translational orientation that are carried out entirely in Spain.

Application deadline: From November 7 to January 30, 2020.


AECC 2020 Coordinated Groups

Promote collaborative research through multidisciplinary research groups that respond to an existing clinical need.

Deadline for submission of applications: from November 7, 2019 to February 14, 2020.

Postdoctoral AECC 2020

Granting aid to newly doctoral researchers for the development of a cancer research project in a Spanish center with the possibility of conducting a training stay in a national or international reference center to promote the talent of young researchers in this first postdoctoral training stage .

Application deadline: from November 7, 2019 to December 12, 2019.

AECC 2020 Clinical Training

Selection of training programs that meet the strategic objectives of the AECC Scientific Foundation to train medical specialists; and that these medical professionals can benefit from the financial assistance granted by the AECC Scientific Foundation to develop these programs.

Application deadline: from November 7, 2019 to January 30, 2020.

Junior Clinic AECC 2020

Granting of financial aid to medical professionals in their resident stage or in their first years of specialty for the development of a cancer research project.

Deadline for submission of applications: from November 7, 2019 to January 13, 2020.

Practices AECC Academic Course 2020

Bring the reality of biomedical research to university students in the field of health sciences and complete their training by conducting internships in a research laboratory, whose activity is related to any of the areas of cancer research.

Application deadline: from February 28, 2020 to May 28, 2020.

AECC Summer 2020 practices

Bring the reality of biomedical research to university students in the field of health sciences and complete their training by conducting internships in a research laboratory, whose activity is related to any of the areas of cancer research.

Deadline for submission of applications: from November 7, 2019 to February 26, 2020.

Senior Clinic AECC 2020

Granting of financial assistance to medical professionals for the development of a cancer research project, and consolidating research in medical specialists, thus contributing to the promotion of research in the clinical setting.

Deadline for submission of applications: from November 7, 2019 to January 13, 2020.

AECC Innova 2020

The purpose of this call is to promote or accelerate the technology transfer and the results of the laboratory to the patient through a public call focused on financing technologies and projects in cancer with commercial potential developed in a public or private nonprofit entity and trained for the scientific research in Spain.

Deadline for submission of applications: from November 7, 2019 to December 31, 2020.

AECC Scientific Foundation (link)

INNVAL Aid Resolution

IDIVAL annually announces a program of aid for the promotion of innovation in general and specifically intrapreneurship in the IDIVAL environment. The projects must be developed mainly in the public sanitary environment of Cantabria.

This year the INNVAL Call finances a total of 14 projects, of the 28 submitted, for a total amount of €196,000.