Researchers from the Nanomedicine Group (IDIVAL-UC) have been recognised with the ‘V Prevencionar Award’ in the Research category, for their pioneering work in the study and training in Nanoprevention.

This award highlights the work started in 2010 by the Nanomedicine Group, when its researchers began to explore applications of nanomaterials in various areas. Throughout their research, they detected a clear lack of information on the effects of these materials on health and the appropriate protective measures. As a result, they produced a manual that in 2017 gave rise to the University Expert Course on Nanoprevention.

This course, directed by Professor Rafael Valiente Barroso, member of the nanomedicine research group, and coordinated by Ciro L. Salcines, UC occupational risk prevention technician, is the only one in Spain and Latin America that offers 6 ECTS credits in this subject. The training is supported by the Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL), FREMAP and the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM).

The course covers a wide range of topics, from individual and collective protection systems to the correct characterisation of nanomaterials, and has been instrumental in transferring knowledge from academia to various sectors of society. According to Valiente, this training allows professionals such as prevention technicians, researchers and businessmen to acquire the necessary tools to apply good practices in their work environments.

Prevencionar Awards

The Prevencionar Awards, organised by Prevencionar.com, aim to recognise and promote good practices in health, safety and well-being at work. They are held every two years and are based at the University of Oviedo, with the mission of making society aware of the importance of prevention and its application in various fields.

Photo source: University of Cantabria

The goals of JACARDI are to increase healthy life years, improve health equity, and reduce premature deaths in Europe.

IDIVAL’s representation at this forum was led by Lorena Madrigal and Sara Barbero from the nursing research group, who presented the pilot projects they are working on as part of the initiative.

The IDIVAL Health Research Institute participated this week in the Annual General Assembly of the Joint Action on Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes (JACARDI) in Paris. This event, which concluded last Friday at the Santé Publique France building, brought together key stakeholders from across Europe to strengthen collaboration in the fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

These conditions pose a significant threat to people’s health and well-being, as well as burdening healthcare systems and hindering social and economic development. In response to this challenge, JACARDI was created a year ago with the mission to increase healthy life years, improve health equity, and reduce premature deaths in Europe.

The initiative is implementing 142 pilot projects aimed at testing evidence-based practices to prevent and manage cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, involving 76 partner institutions from 21 European countries.

Education, prevention, and coordinated management
The JACARDI General Assembly began last Wednesday with a plenary session inaugurated by Caroline Semaille, Director of Santé Publique France, and Christine Jacob-Schumacher, a representative from the French Ministry of Health. During this opening day, JACARDI’s first year of activities was reviewed, with contributions from experts such as Stefan Craenen from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Maria Vasile from the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), who shared insights and updates on European legislation.

JACARDI aims to offer solutions throughout the patient care continuum, from prevention and early detection to treatment and self-management, with the goal of achieving specific, effective outcomes in improving population health.

Thursday saw the start of parallel sessions, which concluded on Friday. These meetings focused on specific work packages, addressing topics such as health literacy, integrated care pathways, data accessibility, and patient self-management. In these sessions, project manager Lorena Madrigal and psychologist Sara Barbero presented the pilot projects they are working on with their teams at IDIVAL.

IDIVAL’s role in JACARDI
IDIVAL’s nursing group is leading three important initiatives within the European JACARDI project, aiming to improve health literacy for both patients and the general public, as well as providing self-care tools and practices to patients with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. These actions aim to empower patients to adopt healthy lifestyles and improve their quality of life.

Two of the pilot projects focus on the creation and implementation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), building on previous successful experiences with this format. The courses feature mini-videos and interactive forums, aimed at teaching self-care techniques, raising awareness of diseases, promoting early diagnosis, and encouraging positive lifestyle changes.

The third project focuses on the implementation of Responsible Care Workshops, facilitated by expert patients. These workshops foster a community where participants share valuable experiences and knowledge. Through these courses, patients not only receive health education but also reinforce their self-management skills, improving their overall well-being.

The pilots involve nurses from the Primary Care Service of Cantabria, patients from the Active Patient Program of the Cantabrian Health School, and nursing professors from the University of Cantabria, who collaborate in the development and implementation of the courses.

These pilots will be evaluated to collect data demonstrating the effectiveness of the results in improving treatment adherence and promoting healthy lifestyle habits, empowering patients to become agents of change within their communities as expert patients.
According to Dr. Carmen Sarabia, principal investigator of the project, one of the key factors that will make a difference in the outcomes of these pilots is that “the projects are committed to accessibility and inclusivity, as well as their sustainability and scalability, so that these initiatives can reach a wider audience and have a lasting impact on public health in the region.” This approach will allow the courses to be adapted to different contexts and populations, ensuring that more people can benefit from this training in the long term.

Together, the three projects aim to promote greater patient engagement in their own care, improve their quality of life, and reduce the burden these diseases represent both for healthcare systems and the affected individuals.

Cover image: Lorena Madrigal and Sara Barbero with other JACARDI project partners at Santé Publique France.

The European Care4Diabetes project aims to improve the quality of life of people with type 2 diabetes by focusing on 4 key elements (nutrition, physical activity, relaxation and sleep). To this end, it is looking for volunteers to participate in the “C4D-Cuido Mi Diabetes” program, designed to improve the quality of life of these people.

The team responsible for Care4Diabetes is made up of professionals from the Cantabrian Health Service (SCS) and the IDIVAL Health Research Institute.

In the first phase, lasting six months, the nursing, family medicine and endocrinology professionals will work intensively with the participants, and then follow them for another six months to evaluate the results. Both phases, intensive and follow-up, will be carried out in person and/or online.

In the face-to-face format, the intensive phase will begin with a two-day coexistence (October 26 and 27, 2024) with the group and the multidisciplinary team that will accompany them throughout the project.

The requirements to participate as a volunteer in this project are the following:

Motivation for lifestyle change.
Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes for a maximum of 10 years.
Body Mass Index (BMI) between 25 and 35 kg/m².
Handling of digital devices.
Learning how to use glucose sensors and meters.

If you are interested in participating, you can contact Natalia at 651704340 or Lourdes: 686 37 73 62.

Care4Diabetes:

Care4Diabetes is a European project with a duration of three years, supported by a consortium of 30 partners from 12 countries and a budget of 4 million euros, (80% is funded by the European Commission). The aim is to implement the Reverse Diabetes2 Now Best Practice, developed by the Dutch NGO Voeding Leef over a decade.

In Spain, project partners include the public health services of Cantabria (SCS), Andalusia (SAS), Galicia (Sergas), the Regional Government of Extremadura, the Andalusian Public Foundation for Progress and Health, as well as the Aragonese Primary Care Research Group and IDIVAL.

The Principality of Asturias has been chosen by the Spanish Ministry of Health to lead this European program, thanks to the experience acquired by the Regional Ministry of Health in international projects funded by the European Commission, EFFICHRONIC such as IDEAHL.

The ‘Luchamos por la Vida’ association has presented the Valdecilla Health Research Institute (IDIVAL) with a donation of 30,000 euros, raised during its popular solidarity race, held in April in Los Corrales de Buelna. This initiative, which has been supporting the fight against cancer for more than 14 years, has earmarked the funds for two research projects.

The amount has been divided equally between the projects led by Dr. Alfonso Bolado, from IDIVAL’s research group on skeletal, metabolic and environmental diseases, and Dr. José Pedro Vaqué, from the clinical and translational research group on digestive diseases.

Dr Bolado’s project studies how breast cancer cells acquire the ability to spread throughout the body, which is often associated with a worse prognosis. The focus is on a protein that is normally involved in defence against infection, but which the cancer uses to become more aggressive. The aim is to find weak spots in the tumour that can be targeted by new therapies.

Dr Vaqué’s project studies cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, a rare cancer affecting the skin that, in advanced stages, can spread with a poor prognosis. The team has completed a clinical trial to treat the early stages of the disease and is now focused on understanding how these malignant lymphocytes spread, in order to develop treatments for more advanced stages.

The ‘Luchamos por la Vida’ race is the largest solidarity walk in northern Spain and, in its fourteenth edition, brought together nearly 5,000 participants, along with a hundred volunteers and another hundred collaborating companies. This non-competitive event aims to promote healthy lifestyle habits, in addition to supporting people with cancer and their families. The day included activities for all ages, such as raffles, popular food and prize-giving.

The initiative was started 15 years ago by Almudena Ruiz, a resident of Los Corrales de Buelna who was fighting cancer. After her death, friends and colleagues continued to organise the walk, consolidating its success.

The president of the association, Ricardo Martínez Portillo, highlighted the commitment and participation of the volunteers and collaborators, pointing out that it is exciting to see how people from all over Spain come together for such an important cause. For his part, Dr. Vaqué highlighted the social and economic value of this donation, thanking the participants who contributed with their registration for the opportunity to explain their work. IDIVAL’s Director of Management, Galo Peralta, underlined the importance of these initiatives to raise awareness in society about health research and the advances that are being made for the benefit of patients and their families.

Finally, Ricardo Martínez encouraged the entire IDIVAL team, as well as society in general, to participate in the next edition, on Sunday 27 April 2025, where they will try to beat the Guinness World Record for the largest human bond formed to date.

Researchers from the IDIVAL nursing research group and the University of Cantabria together with the Rey Juan Carlos University and the Pneumology Service of the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital (HUMV), have published a new study in the journal Pathogens that addresses the relationship between biological biomarkers and the symptoms of persistent COVID, such as fatigue and dyspnoea.

The paper is part of a series of papers arising from the NVAL21/26 project, which investigates the prevalence of pain in patients who have experienced COVID-19, its impact on quality of life, and its relationship with other post-hospitalisation conditions. ‘From this project, the idea arose to explore whether certain biomarkers could be related to interstitial disease and persistent COVID,’ says Paula Parás, IDIVAL researcher and Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing at the University of Cantabria and one of the authors of the study.

In the analysis, the researchers observed that markers such as creatine phosphokinase (CPK) could be linked to common symptoms of persistent COVID. ‘The results suggest that CPK may be involved in fatigue and dyspnoea, although further studies are needed to confirm its role in this pathology,’ Parás adds.

Patients were recruited for this study through the HUMV’s Pneumology department, and the data obtained to date have allowed the researchers to advance in the understanding of persistent COVID. ‘Our line of research on pain is helping us to find new connections, and we plan to continue deepening in this field, especially in diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis,’ concludes Parás.

The IDIVAL team remains committed to unravelling the mechanisms behind the sequelae of COVID-19 and improving care for affected patients.

Link to the publication: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/13/8/641

Cover image: IDIVAL’s Nursing Research Group