A group of IDIVAL researchers, technicians and managers has traveled to Brussels with the aim of increasing the visibility of IDIVAL research groups at European level. The visit is part of the actions of internationalization of research in the health sector of our Autonomous Community, and has served to identify key actors in European research and innovation financing programs.
Members of the Ministry of Health of the Government of Cantabria, IDIVAL members (Innovation Support Unit, Management, European Projects Area, Evaltec) and leading researchers participated in this strategic mission. In the same way, members of the ITEMAS platform, under the Carlos III Health Institute, which is currently led by IDIVAL at the national level and which includes 30 Health Research Centers and Institutes of reference in our country, have joined the mission.
The team of the Cantabria Office in Brussels, under the Ministry of Presidency, Interior, Justice and External Action, has participated in the preparation and development of the visit that has been led by the Director General of Digital Transformation and User Relations from the Ministry of Health of Cantabria, Santiago García Blanco, and by the Director of IDIVAL, Galo Peralta.
The agenda has included a visit to the European Parliament and the Office of the Government of Cantabria in Brussels and meetings with the Spanish representatives of the Office of Science and Technology, SOST, which supports the Spanish research community in their participation in the European programs of R&D. The meetings have allowed contact with representatives of the General Directorate of Health and Food Safety of the General Directorate of Research and Innovation, and of the General Directorate of Regional and Urban Policy.
The contacts are developed at a time of special interest in which the actions of the Horizon Europe program are being designed through which Europe will promote research and innovation from the year 2020 and will have funding that will exceed 100,000 Million euros for the development of actions in these areas within three axes: Excellent Science, Innovation and Challenges and Competitiveness at a global level, in which the health sector of our Autonomous Community has identified capacities to participate.
This strategic mission has been co-financed by the European Union and the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness within the project entitled “Valdecilla European Research Promotion Initiative (VALER H2020)”, with file number ECT-2017-0371.
A group of IDIVAL researchers, technicians and managers has traveled to Brussels with the aim of increasing the visibility of IDIVAL research groups at European level. The visit is part of the actions of internationalization of research in the health sector of our Autonomous Community, and has served to identify key actors in European research […]
Recently, an aid for the health research project PI19 / 00041 has been granted to Santiago Montes Moreno, Principal Investigator, head of the emerging IDIVAL group of Translational Hematopathology.
The project, entitled “Liquid Biopsy for the molecular diagnosis of patients with aggressive B lymphoma included in a clinical trial”, is a multicenter effort whose objective is to consolidate a histopathological and molecular diagnostic platform for patients with large cell B lymphoma included in different clinical trials of the GELTAMO group.
The project includes as specific objectives:
The concession of this project supposes the continued support by the Carlos III Health Institute to the Translational Hematopathology group, which has as one of its main lines of research the identification of genetic markers in aggressive Lymphoma B that may be useful for prognosis and selection of targeted therapy.
Recently, an aid for the health research project PI19 / 00041 has been granted to Santiago Montes Moreno, Principal Investigator, head of the emerging IDIVAL group of Translational Hematopathology. The project, entitled “Liquid Biopsy for the molecular diagnosis of patients with aggressive B lymphoma included in a clinical trial”, is a multicenter effort whose objective […]
Registration is free. Please do it through the following links by completing the form, for each of the modules you wish to attend:
https://aplicacionesidival.idival.org/ConvocatoriasPropias/es/Convocatorias/VerConvocatoria?Id=595
https://aplicacionesidival.idival.org/ConvocatoriasPropias/es/Convocatorias/VerConvocatoria?Id=596
https://aplicacionesidival.idival.org/ConvocatoriasPropias/es/Convocatorias/VerConvocatoria?Id=597
https://aplicacionesidival.idival.org/ConvocatoriasPropias/es/Convocatorias/VerConvocatoria?Id=598
The accreditation of the course has been requested from the Commission for Continuing Education, by modules, individually. Diploma will be provided to all attendees who meet the attendance requirements.
See the program here.
The objective of the course is to improve the communication skills of our researchers in order to improve the performance of the dissemination and dissemination of scientific knowledge in our society, increasing the technological dimension of their culture. The course is open to researchers, clinical staff, students and the general public. The course is developed […]
The Minister of Health of the Government of Cantabria, Miguel Rodríguez, has visited the facilities of the Marqués de Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL) to meet the research teams and the projects that are being carried out.
During his visit, he was accompanied by the director of the center, Galo Peralta; the director of Public Health, Paloma Navas; the director of Digital Transformation and User Relations, Santiago García, and the manager of the Cantabrian Health Service (SCS), Celia Gómez.
The counselor described the Institute as “a center that is at the forefront of health research and innovation and is a world leader in its area.”
In addition, he has taken advantage of his stay at the IDIVAL to sign the application for renewal of accreditation as a Health Research Institute, a fundamental certification granted by the Carlos III Health Institute that only 30 other centers have throughout Spain.
“Reediting this accreditation is essential for the exercise of the competences of the IDIVAL”, the Minister of Health has detailed, but it requires “a great update and renewal effort that complies with rigorous standards and very strict requirements demanded by the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), competent for certification”.
After the visit to the center, the entourage has met with the heads of the National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare of the MedStar network (Washington DC, USA), with whom he has discussed the progress of the EValTec project, an innovative initiative promoted by the Innovation Support Unit of the IDIVAL and the Valdecilla Virtual Hospital in which Cantabria is a pioneer and tries to implement studies of ergonomics and human factor in the continuous improvement of technology and health care processes to ensure patient safety.
Note that the IDIVAL Innovation Support Unit coordinates the ITEMAS Innovation Platform in Medical and Health Technologies, promoted by the Carlos III Health Institute, in which innovation experts at the national level support the main Hospitals of our country for the capture of ideas, the development of innovation projects and their transformation into products that respond to patients' health problems.
The Minister of Health of the Government of Cantabria, Miguel Rodríguez, has visited the facilities of the Marqués de Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL) to meet the research teams and the projects that are being carried out. During his visit, he was accompanied by the director of the center, Galo Peralta; the director of Public Health, […]
The incidence of cervicobrachial disorders in otolaryngologists is high. In other surgical specialties, knowledge of this problem has prompted the creation of new equipment, improvements in the design and distribution of the operating room, as well as greater postural awareness. Given the strong physical and psychological demands of endoscopic sinus surgery (CENS) and the limited solutions currently being taken, the potential benefits of this study are enormous.
Dr. Lobo with the support of Dr. Manuel Palazuelos, Director of the surgical area of the Valdecilla Virtual Hospital, specialist in general surgery and digestive system and graduated in clinical simulation at the Center for Medical Simulation in Boston (USA), Dr. Megía , Head of the Otolaryngology Section, Dr. Viera and Dr. López-Higuera, Head of the Photonics Engineering Group of the University of Cantabria and an INNVAL 2017 scholarship, has been able to develop a research project in surgical ergonomics of procedures endoscopic nasosinusals. This work has allowed us to know the prevalence of symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders in ENT specialists in Spain, which is essential to estimate the impact of these corrective measures. In addition, postural information of the entire body was collected by motion capture during CENS interventions and said information was analyzed with the validated RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) tool that allows calculating a risk index of musculoskeletal overload. In this way, it was found that not only training residents but also rhinologist specialists with extensive knowledge of surgical ergonomics are exposed to a high risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders derived from surgical practice. These works have already been published in high impact and prestigious journals within the specialty.
The result of this work is also the coordination of a multidisciplinary and multicenter work on surgical ergonomics, which among other aspects, identifies the critical points from an ergonomic perspective of endoscopic sinus surgery, in order to improve education in postural self-care and the organization of an operating room for Otolaryngology, and to guide the design of new prototypes of surgical tools that demonstrate increasing the effectiveness of the task, the comfort of handling, and the reduction of postural risk in this group of workers. The publication of this treaty is imminent and will be disseminated among the majority of ENT specialists in Spain.
Currently, the continuation of this project focuses on the design of new hand tools, pedals or arm supports in CENS and their commercial development in collaboration with the University and the industry, for which new aid has been requested and It has the collaboration of Dr. Ramón Sancibrián Herrera, Professor of the Department of Structural and Mechanical Engineering of the University of Cantabria. To achieve this objective, the project proposes the study and analysis of the surgeon's biomechanical variables, the ranges of movement and their muscular efforts. Also, the biomechanical simulation of the surgeon in order to be able to create theoretical models of the movement and how the postures forced or that cause fatigue can be corrected. Finally, a design stage of an ergonomic support device of the surgeon is established. For the latter, simulation and experimentation techniques will be used.
The incidence of cervicobrachial disorders in otolaryngologists is high. In other surgical specialties, knowledge of this problem has prompted the creation of new equipment, improvements in the design and distribution of the operating room, as well as greater postural awareness. Given the strong physical and psychological demands of endoscopic sinus surgery (CENS) and the limited […]
After the last outbreak of listeriosis occurred in Spain, the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, has established itself in Spain as one of the pathogens causing more virulent food infections. In general, immunocompromised individuals are those with a high risk of listeriosis, either due to natural immunosuppression such as pregnancy, newborns or the elderly, or due to pathological immunosuppression such as cancer patients, autoimmune patients, with conditions liver or kidney, patients undergoing treatment with immunosuppressants or patients with AIDS.
Against this infection, the Valdecilla Biomedical Research Institute (IDIVAL) has patented a multivalent synthetic vaccine effective not only in the treatment and / or prevention of listeriosis, but also for tuberculosis and pneumonia. Patented therapeutic vaccines consist of gold glyconanoparticles conjugated to peptides 1-15 of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH1-15) of various bacterial genera. The vaccine is in a pre-clinical phase and has been tested in mice.
The project has been selected to participate in the 17th Pharmaceutical Industry Day on October 29.
The principal researcher, Dr. Carmen Álvarez Domínguez, tells us the most relevant aspects of the project:
What is the vaccine?
It is a synthetic vaccine formed by very small gold nanoparticles of 2 nanometers, which have two compounds coupled by a very stable chemical bond, a short 15 amino acid peptide of a bacterial protein with enzymatic action, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase or GAPDH and also carry a carbohydrate, beta-D-glucose, GNP-GAPDH1-15 nanovaccines. These nanovaccines have low toxicity, are very homogeneous in size and the peptide coupled in them cannot be easily degraded, having a very long half-life. This peptide belongs to a bacterial virulence factor and its sequence and structure is the same in three bacterial genera, Listeria, Mycobacterium and Streptococcus.
What is your mecanism of action?
These GNP-GAPDH1-15 nanovaccines target the cells responsible for starting the immune response, dendritic cells, and as the structure of the GAPDH1-15 peptide is very similar in the three bacterial genera, Listeria, Mycobacterium and Streptococcus, they have the ability to multivalent vaccine, that is, able to protect against infections of pathogenic strains of the three bacterial genera, simultaneously. Specifically, we have seen that it protects against experimental models of listeriosis, cutaneous and pulmonary mycobacteria and streptococcal pneumonia, both in adult and elderly models, and in the case of listeriosis, it also protects in neonatal infection models.
What are the next steps so that the vaccine can become a reality and can be used in humans?
To examine whether the vaccine formulation induces a specific immune response using blood cells from both patients with listeriosis, as well as with mycobacterial lungs and skin, as well as with streptococcal pneumonia, compared to healthy individuals. Prepare the formulation on a large scale with the help of an expert pharmacist under GMP conditions, that is, good manufacturing practices, and carry out pharmacokinetic studies to assess its safety and specific protective capacity in immunodeficient mouse models, with the objective to be able to send a request for a clinical trial in Phase 1 to the European medicine agency and assess its toxicity and safety in healthy donors. From here, if the vaccine is safe, its ability to induce a specific response in healthy individuals and in different high-risk groups to these pathogens could be tested.
After the last outbreak of listeriosis occurred in Spain, the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, has established itself in Spain as one of the pathogens causing more virulent food infections. In general, immunocompromised individuals are those with a high risk of listeriosis, either due to natural immunosuppression such as pregnancy, newborns or the elderly, or due to […]
Following the success achieved in the past programs of Santander Biomedical Lectures, IDIVAL introduces the fourth program of conferences. World’s prestigious and recognized researchers for their international contributions.
For a consecutive year, the Cantabria Research Forum, made up of the Cantabrian Health Service together with the Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL), the University of Cantabria (UC) and the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (IBBTEC) have created this forum for discussion on the current advances in biomedicine. This forum brings leading researchers to exchange experiences with members of the scientific and clinical community of our region.
As previous year, this fourth program of SANTANDER BIOMEDICAL LECTURES will focus on a series of conferences dedicated to the advancement of global knowledge in Biomedicine.
IV Program of Conferences Santander Biomedical Lectures
04/09/2019.- Raj Ratwani, PhD – MedStar Institute for Innovation.
31/10/2019.- Germán Fajardo, Director of the Faculty of Medicine of the UNAM and President of the Latin American Association of Faculties and Schools of Medicine
28/11/2019.- José Obeso Inchausti, Director of the Comprehensive Center of Neurosciences AC (CINAC)
19/12/2019.- Lourdes Fañanas, CIBERSAM Group Leader at the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB)
30/01/2020.- Xavier Bossuyt, Senior Researcher at the Flemish Foundation for Scientific Research
25/02/2020.- Margarita Salas, Professor of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC)
26/03/2020.- Miguel Ángel Perales, Head of the bone marrow transplant service for adults at Memorial Sloan Ketering in New York
30/04/2020.- Dimitris Xirodimas, Principal investigator at the Center de Recherche de Biochimie Macromoléculaire (CNRS)
14/05/2020.- Rafael Fonseca, Professor and principal investigator at Mayo Clinic
All conferences will be open to all the public of Santander who wants to participate and they will take place at Marques de Valdecilla University Hospital, Téllez Room (Pavilion 16) at 8:15 p.m. Then the lecturers will stay in our community for at least a few hours to visit the research centers of our community to know first hand the interested scientists.
Following the success achieved in the past programs of Santander Biomedical Lectures, IDIVAL introduces the fourth program of conferences. World’s prestigious and recognized researchers for their international contributions. For a consecutive year, the Cantabria Research Forum, made up of the Cantabrian Health Service together with the Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL), the University of Cantabria (UC) […]
IDIVAL researchers belonging to the group of Epidemiology and Pathogenic and Molecular Mechanisms of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology led by Dr. Carmen Fariñas, head of the Infectious Service of the Marqués de Valdecilla Hospital have participated in a study recently published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases..jpg?ver=2019-08-14-131558-160)
This is a multinational and multicenter study in which data were collected from 25 centers in 9 countries in Europe, Australia and Israel, the largest to date comparing several beta-lactam monotherapies for the definitive treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia, with 767 patients included.
P. aeruginosa bacteraemia accounts for 2-4% of bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital and is associated with high mortality rates, ranging from 20 to 40% at 30 days.
The optimal antibiotic regimen for P. aeruginosa bacteremia is controversial. Although monotherapy with beta-lactams is common, data to guide the choice between antibiotics are scarce. The objective of this study was to compare the use of ceftazidime, carbapenems and piperacillin-tazobactam as definitive monotherapy.
In this study, no significant differences were found between the three beta-lactam antibiotics used as monotherapy for the treatment of P. aeruginosa bacteremia in terms of mortality, clinical failure, microbiological failure or adverse events.
The detection of higher isolation rates of P. aeruginosa strains with new resistance profiles after treatment with carbapenems allows us to suggest a preference for ceftazidime or piperacillin-tazobactam for the treatment of bacteremia due to P. aeruginosa once the microorganism is detected and That is sensitive.
The importance of this study is given by the information it provides regarding the final clinical outcome of these infections that is similar with the use of specific anti-Pseudomonas antibiotics with that of very broad spectrum antibiotics. According to these data, antibiotics of a wider spectrum can be preserved in these cases, which may contribute to a decrease in the occurrence of resistance.
IDIVAL researchers belonging to the group of Epidemiology and Pathogenic and Molecular Mechanisms of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology led by Dr. Carmen Fariñas, head of the Infectious Service of the Marqués de Valdecilla Hospital have participated in a study recently published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. This is a multinational and multicenter study in […]
Cancer represents a major health problem. It is estimated that, in 2019, almost 280,000 people will be diagnosed with this disease in our country. These figures are higher than in previous years. The most common tumors in Spain are those of the colon, prostate, breast, lung and urinary bladder.
As the number of new diagnoses increases steadily (due to our increased life expectancy among other reasons), the survival of our cancer patients is also increasing. This is due to diagnoses in earlier stages of the disease, management in multidisciplinary teams and the incorporation of newer treatments.
In this last sense, it is worth noting the recent communication of the results of an international study in which several Spanish oncologists have participated, including Dr. Ignacio Duran of the Medical Oncology Service of the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital. The mentioned study refers to a new therapy for advanced bladder cancer. This tumor, when localized, is treated with local measures such as surgery, radiotherapy [alone or in combination with chemotherapy] or instillation of treatments within the bladder itself. However, once the tumor extends beyond the bladder generating metastases in other organs, treatment options have traditionally been limited to chemotherapy and with suboptimal results. More recently, immunotherapy has been added to the treatment arsenal, drugs that by activating the immune system induce an antitumor activity in those cases that have failed conventional chemotherapy. However, the benefit of immunotherapy is limited to 15-20% of patients.
The results now published in the prestigious “New England Journal of Medicine” refer to a new molecule called Erdafitinib (Balversa ™) that has demonstrated remarkable efficacy in a phase II trial in patients with advanced bladder tumors that had progressed after previous treatments. of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The peculiarity of this new drug is that we know that its effectiveness is conditioned by the presence of specific alterations (mutations or fusions) in some genes (the so-called FGFR family). Thus, this study only included those patients whose tumors had mutations or fusions in FGFR. Hence, we could say that it is a new “targeted therapy” and that we have the ability to select those patients in which the probability of treatment success is greater. This represents an unprecedented milestone in the treatment of this disease.
Specifically in the published study, Erdafitinib was able to induce some degree of tumor reduction up to 70% of the 99 patients treated, being in 40% of cases a significant and more lasting reduction over time. It should be noted that of those patients who had received immunotherapy without responding to it, two thirds benefited from this treatment.
These results have resulted in the recent approval by the US regulatory authorities of this drug in the US representing a new treatment alternative for these patients. In Europe it is not yet available except in clinical studies.
In Cantabria, the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital through a collaboration of the Medical Oncology, Urology and Clinical Pharmacology Service is carrying out a Phase I study with Erdafitinib in combination with a new immunotherapeutic. Undoubtedly, the times of shortage of treatment options in this complex patient population are behind. This is good news for patients with advanced bladder cancer.
Cancer represents a major health problem. It is estimated that, in 2019, almost 280,000 people will be diagnosed with this disease in our country. These figures are higher than in previous years. The most common tumors in Spain are those of the colon, prostate, breast, lung and urinary bladder. As the number of new diagnoses […]
The Marqués de Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL) organizes from September 9th to 13th a course of Standards of Good Clinical Practice aimed at all those personnel of the biosanitary environment of Cantabria that have an interest in clinical research.
This training activity it is intended to give these professionals the necessary tools for their participation in clinical research, offering them to know the principles of Good Clinical Practice according to the International Harmonization Conference (ICH) required to participate in clinical research projects.
The course is free and you are requested to register through the following link by completing the form. Applications will be prioritized in order of registration. In the case of any interested person being left out of the course, they will be prioritized for an upcoming edition.
Registration link: https://aplicacionesidival.idival.org/ConvocatoriasPropias/en/Convocatorias/VerConvocatoria?Id=584
For any questions do not hesitate to contact us through the e-mail proyectos1@idival.org
The Marqués de Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL) organizes from September 9th to 13th a course of Standards of Good Clinical Practice aimed at all those personnel of the biosanitary environment of Cantabria that have an interest in clinical research. This training activity it is intended to give these professionals the necessary tools for their participation […]
