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Researchers from Barcelona’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CMRB), the Catalan capital’s Hospital Clínic and the Salk Institute of California have successfully created three-dimensional renal structures which are virtually indistinguishable from embryonic kidneys. They have started creating kidney cells from human stem cells, and ultimately proven that these newly created cells could aggregate in vitro to form a “micro-kidney”. The team led by Juan Carlos Izpisúa, from the CMRB, said that this scientific breakthrough would facilitate the study of kidney diseases and enable scientists to work on new treatments. He added that this achievement was a great step towards developing therapies based on the use of stem cells.

Researchers of Barcelona-based Vall d’Hebron Hospital and Research Institute discovered some of the main causes of the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, which were unknown before today. Vall d’Hebron’s study showed that a continuous exposure to feather pillows and duvets was one of the main causes of this illness as it favours the scarring of lung tissue. This disease provokes a progressive decline of lung function and leads to asphyxia because of the deterioration of the organ’s tissue. The study has been able to trace the diseases’ causes in half of the studied cases. Besides feather pillows and duvets, the persistent exposure to fungus and close contact with birds can also trigger the illness. The Catalan research allows for a new approach to the illness’ prevention and its diagnosis in the early stages. It also represents a completely new approach to this pathology in terms of treatment.

According to a medical study developed in Barcelona’s Hospital Clínic, fetuses conceived by assisted reproduction have changes in their heart and arteries, which begin even before birth and persist in the postnatal period. These changes represent a significant increase in cardiovascular risk in adulthood. However, the researchers point out that this situation is reversible from the beginning of life through a diet rich in omega3 and other factors. In addition, they strongly emphasised that this is only a risk factor and not a disease. The study leader, Eduard Gratacós, said that “it's a message of opportunity, not alarm”. Furthermore, they also recommend monitoring the blood pressure of these babies.

Christian Brander is a researcher at the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute and Scientific Director of HIVACAT, the programme for the development of a HIV vaccine. He graduated from the University of Bern in 1994 with a PhD in Immunology and has spent 13 years at Harvard University focusing on cellular immunity to viral infections.

The healthcare tourism sector is growing. Russian, British and German visitors make the most of their holiday trip by visiting specialists, passing medical tests or undergoing a surgical operation. As a response to this, a private medical center in Girona has announced that it will invest more than €1 million to profit from healthcare tourism.

The agreement was previously discussed with the Spanish Executive and it respects the Catalan Government’s external action power as described in Catalonia’s main law. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, signed the agreement with UNESCO’s General Director, Irina Bokova. The new framework allows Catalonia to have its “singularity” represented in the international organisation, although not permanently. Catalan representatives will be present in specific meetings and projects, separate from the Spanish delegation. “It is more than what we already have”, stated Mas. The Catalan President was one of the speakers at the Opening Plenary Session of UNESCO’s Global Conference, which is being held in Paris from the 3rd to the 5th of June.

The vaccine works by re-introducing immune system cells, which have previously been extracted and modified, in order to avoid the destruction of beta cells, which are those producing insulin. The vaccine has been developed by researchers from the Germans Trias Hospital in Badalona, in Greater Barcelona. Furthermore, in February, another group of Catalan scientists announced the cure of Type 1 Diabetes in two dogs, which is the first time this has been successful in large animals. In the last few years, Catalonia and especially Greater Barcelona have become a world centre within the biomedicine sector.

The technique started in Catalonia in 2007 and by 2011 it was practiced on 40% of patients with renal failure. The Catalan Health Ministry hopes to cover 100% of the cases within the next 5 to 10 years. In the United States it started being used a year ago as they were waiting for clinical results to expand its use. Now, a clinical study on 900 patients from 27 different Catalan centres has proved that the technique reduces mortality by 30% on patients with kidney failure within the first three years. In addition, it improves quality of life, reduces hospitalisations by 22% and it also makes hypotension episodes drop by 28%.

According to experiments tested on mice, Catalan scientists have affirmed that the stem cells located in the human umbilical chord, which are multipotential and therefore can become different types of cells, can be used to regenerate the tissue affected by a heart attack or a stroke. Until now the only way to recover the damaged tissue was through pharmacological treatment or a heart transplant.

A research group led by Catalan doctor Joaquim Bellmunt at the Hospital del Mar has shown in a study how important the time between two chemotherapy treatments is in increasing the curing rates of bladder cancer. The study was published by the journal ‘European Urology’ and has encouraged the researchers to develop new drugs for treating this type of tumour.

An international study with the participation of the Hospital Clínic IDIBAPS, which is a leading research centre at a world level on AIDS/HIV and other common diseases, has proved that an anti-retroviral treatment carried out just after the infection delays the damage to the patient’s immune system and reduces the risk of transmission. The results of clinical tests on 366 infected individuals confirmed that the sooner and longer an initial anti-retroviral treatment is applied, the later the life-long treatments have to start. However, despite the results, researchers insist that is still too soon to change the current AIDS/HIV treatment protocols.

The IDIBAPS has opened a new research centre of more than 5,000 m2, where more than 200 researchers split into 23 different research groups will be working. It will focus its work on oncology, neurosciences and cell therapies along with infectious, respiratory, cardiovascular and renal diseases. The new centre has been possible thanks to a donation by the private foundation CELLEX, sponsored by Pere Mir. The new centre is located within the University of Barcelona’s Faculty of Medicine, which is integrated into the prestigious Hospital Clínic. The centre consolidates Catalonia, and in particular Barcelona, as one of Europe’s main biomedical poles.

Staff members from Catalonia’s main hospitals, including Sant Pau, Vall d’Hebron, Clínic, Parc Taulí and Germans Trias i Pujol, carried out several protests on Wednesday. Some of these protests had already started a few days ago and might last a few days longer, such as spending the night in the hospital lobby. They are demonstrating to criticise the budget cuts affecting health centres and to defend the public healthcare system. Some of these hospitals are recognised at an international level for their top quality clinical and scientific research work.

Depending on UN-Habitat, the Global Water Operators' Partnerships Alliance (GWOPA) has established the Catalan capital as the permanent base for its headquarters. GWOPA will set up its offices in one of the historical Art-Nouveau pavilions of the old Sant Pau Hospital, in Barcelona. These pavilions will host other international organisations, such as one institute of the United Nations University. “It is not the first and neither will it be the last organisation to choose” Sant Pau’s historical site to base its headquarters, stated the Catalan Minister for Sustainability, Lluís Recoder.

The Catalan capital proposes an Art Nouveau pavilion in the former Sant Pau Hospital, located near the Sagrada Familia, as the organisation’s headquarters. The former St Pau Hospital pavilions will host in a few months several international organisations, such as an institute of the United Nations’ University and the European Forest Institute.