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Valdecilla brand, created in 1929, has been cited more than 100,000 times by the international biomedical literature, according to data obtained on the Web of Science database.

According to these data, papers published by the authors who have in their affiliation the brand Valdecilla (exclusive brand worldwide of our Hospital) have been referenced in more than 100,000 times by international literature, a clear sign of the prestige and impact of the activity of the professionals of Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital. These citations are growing year by year, in a relevant way.

The Valdecilla brand is not only a consolidated brand in our region and in our country, which Cantabrian people respect and treat with affection, and which Spanish doctors consider as a reference in certain fields of medicine. It is also known internationally as the data from the scientific literature shows. Valdecilla is the brand that Ramon Pelayo de la Torriente, Marques de Valdecilla, used to name the institutions that he created with his Marquisate: Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, Marqués de Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL), and Valdecilla Virtual Hospital . Nowadays, this brand is maintained with that innovative spirit and philanthropic with which it was created.

The innovative spirit of the Valdecilla brand is made especially evident in IDIVAL, which was born with the aim of promoting R & D of the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital with the contribution of the University of Cantabria. The aim is to place the brand to a level of national and international excellence.

The calculation of the citations was done using the descriptor “valdecilla” in the “address” field of the Web of Science (WOS) database search engine. It is worth noting that the first article authored by Valdecilla researchers was cited in the years 1930 and 1941. It is the work published by Dr. Glez Aguilar: Gonzalez-Aguilar J. Contribution to the pathogeny of tendon tumors of giant cells. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 1930; 12: 280-288.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is the most common hereditary neuropathy that, according to the values of motor conduction velocity (MCV) of the median nerve (normal, ≥49 m / s), is divided into three basic patterns: i / demyelinating, CMT1 with MCV <38 m / s (average around 20 m / s); Ii / axonal, CMT2 with MCV > 38 / m / s (average around 45 m / s); And iii / intermediate, I-CMT with VCM between 25 and 45 m / s. For each CMT pattern, the inheritance may be autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive or X-linked. CMT is a very complex syndrome, particularly since the introduction of mass sequencing technology that has allowed for individualisation of mutations in more than 80 genes. Because of the relative breadth of MCV limit values, I-CMT nosology has been controversial since its original description in 1978.

A systematic review of I-CMT following the PRISMA Declaration has been carried out in collaboration between IDIVAL researchers, Miguel Server Hospital (Zaragoza) and VIB Center for Molecular Genetics (University of Antwerp, Belgium). Berciano et al, J Neurol 2017 Mar 31. doi: 10.1007 / s00415-017-8474-3). To this end, the authors have defined the limits of intermediate conduction considering the amplitude of the corresponding composite muscular action potentials (PACM) in the tenar eminence; When the PACMs were ≤2 mV (equivalent to half the lower limit of normal), proximal segments of the median nerve (axilla-elbow) were examined with registration in the muscles of the forearm.

This study demonstrates that I-CMT comprises 17 loci with 15 cloned genes, which according to their inheritance patterns are distributed as follows: two with X-linked inheritance; 11 with autosomal dominant inheritance (DI-CMT); And the remaining four with autosomal recessive inheritance (RI-CMT). The results of this work indicate that the following changes should be introduced in the OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man) catalog: i / leave vacancies items DI-CMTA (MIM # 606483), RI-CMTB (MIM # 3613641) and RI-CMTD (MIM # 616039), since they probably represent examples of axonal forms of CMT with heavy loss of coarse fibers, which leads to false intermediate range conduction; And ii / assign numbering for the CMT associated with mutations of the DRP2, NEFL, MNF2, AARS, MD1 and DCTN2 genes.

In conclusion, I-CMT is a complex syndrome whose characterization requires a specific neurophysiological protocol that includes an evaluation of the proximal nerve trunks of the upper limbs when the distal PACMs are reduced and a revision of the phenotypes collected in OMIM .

IDIVAL has participated in the IX edition of the Master of Health Services Management (MADGS) run by Professor Dr. David Cantarero Prieto at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Cantabria. IDIVAL has given Sanitary Research within the module of Sanitary Research and Public Health.

Training and promotion of the research activity in the biosanitary field of Cantabria is one of IDIVAL’s strategic goals. The collaboration of the Institute in this Master allows knowing and valuing the activities developed by IDIVAL.

Sessions have provided an overview of the current situation of Health Research in fields such as the organizational model of Health Research Institutes, scientific production and its evaluation, legal and administrative framework in R & D, clinical research and innovation in health. IDIVAL’s speakers have explained their functions in each area of the Central Research Support Unit: projects, innovation, technological support services, training, clinical trial and general services.

IDIVAL’s technological support services coordinator has presented the technological services such as the Biobank, the area of cytometry and cell separation, or the area of microscopy. Students had the opportunity to visit IDIVAL’s laboratories and all the facilities of the Institute.

The European projects unit in collaboration with the Office of the Cantabria’s Government in Brussels, whose staff has moved to Santander to teach the master's degree, underlined the importance of the internationalization. During this session, speakers focused on the actions and characteristics of the European Program H2020.

Innovation is a relevant unit at IDIVAL because of the great capacities in the sanitary environment. IDIVAL's Office of Transfer of Research Results (OTRI) has presented the basic concepts related to this area, focusing on industrial protection and its management.

IDIVAL’s clinical trials unit has presented the main aspects of administrative management and execution. Clinical trial is a concept totally linked to health research, with high legal requirements and with relevant economic implications. 

Finally, researchers from IDIVAL have highlighted the importance of the scientific production and its evaluation, showing how to develop a research project and how to develop a doctoral thesis.

IDIVAL’s collaboration in the Master of Health Services Management (MADGS) is an excellent opportunity to disseminate and value the importance of health research which undoubtedly affects the welfare of society.

UNICAN

Noticias Press

The nineth session of the program of lectures Valdecilla Progress Reports will take place on the 5^th of April. The conference will be given by Raquel García López, Postdoctoral researcher at Physiology and Pharmacology Deparment at the University of Cantabria. Main investigator in a Next-Val project in 2015. 

The session will be about “tgf-beta mediated signalling in aortic abdominal aneurysm: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic approach” and is briefly summarized below:

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a leading cause of sudden death in aged people. Progressive aortic dilation is characterized by imbalances between apoptosis vs proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) and extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation vs synthesis. Current evidence suggests that transforming growth factor-ß (TGFß) protects experimental animals against AAA formation, postulating that TGFß signalling pathways might provide a therapeutic target in AAA. In this regard, the BMP and activin membrane-bound inhibitor (BAMBI) is a decoy type I receptor that negatively modulates TGF-ß signaling. We observed that animals deficient in BAMBI, which have increased TGF-ß signaling in the aortic wall, conferred protection against the development of AAA under AngII administration. Analysis of abdominal aorta with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed that BAMBI-/- animals presented less ECM accumulation and more integrity in elastic lamina compared with wild type animals after 2 weeks of ANGII treatment. In cultured human VSMC, treatment with either AngII or TGFb1 induced a contractile phenotype. Conversely, silencing BAMBI reduced the expression of contractile markers and increased proliferation markers. All this data suggest that the absence of BAMBI induced a favorable SMC phenotype that protects against AAA by decreasing ECM contributors to aortic wall stiffness.

This program of seminars is given by young researchers on the field of IDIVAL’s clinic and laboratories. Speakers will explain the scientific advances of their current research projects. With the idea of debating and networking, the main goal of these meetings, all the predoctoral contracts, Post-MIR Valdecilla López Albo researchers, Río Hortega and Inn-Val grants are invited to attend to these sessions as part of their training. 

The meeting will take place on the 5^th of April in lecture room 4-5, pavilion 16 of the HUMV (1^st floor) and has a capacity of 30 people. The session will be given in English and will last around 30 minutes and follow by a debate.

Researchers who attend 80% of the meetings throughout the academic year will receive a certificate of assistance.

For any questions regarding Progress Reports sessions, please contact the department at gesval1@idival.org

Marqués de Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL) and the Biomedicine and Biotechnology Institute of Cantabria (IBBTEC) open a new call of summer internships in their laboratories. These grants have already been called in previous years and have been a success.

The purpose of this call is to promote experimental training for university students from the biomedical and biotech fields. These internships allow students not only to apply the knowledge acquired in the university but also to know firsthand the daily work done in a laboratory.

These grants are aimed at undergraduate students (50% of the total credits passed) or students from a Master Degree from the University of Cantabria related to the biomedical sciences.

These internships will be for 8 weeks in the months of July and August of 2017 in the research laboratories of IDIVAL or IBBTEC.

Students selected by the evaluation committee will receive a €800 aid for the whole period.

Required documentation:

The application (a single file) must include the following documents:

• Application form: application
• Photocopy of the passport
• Academic certification 
• Curriculum Vitae 
• Letter of motivation
• Possible research priorities of the candidate. The main research lines of the institutes can be consulted on their web pages:
  IDIVAL. www.idival.org
  IBBTEC: http://www.unican.es/ibbtec/.

Submission of applications: 

The above documentation must be sent in a single file using the following submission form:
http://web.unican.es/unidades/coie/solicitud-participacion-en- convocatoria

Subject of the message “Summer IDIVAL-IBBTEC”

Deadline for submission applications

Deadline for submission applications will end on April 21 at 1:00 p.m. Resolutions will be made the first week of May of 2017.