Skip to main content

Oriol Junqueras visits IRB Barcelona to find out more about the centre and its research

Images

Contact

Image
Press & Communications Section Head
Tel.+34 93 40 37255

The president of Esquerra Republicana talks to various group leaders and is “impressed” by the level of research, and the capacity to generate and transfer knowledge and to attract talent.

This year IRB Barcelona celebrates its 10th anniversary.

Today Oriol Junqueras, the president of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), visited the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona)—which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year—to meet the researchers and find out about the scientific projects they are involved in. Junqueras said that he was “impressed” by the level of research conducted at IRB Barcelona and the impact that it has on the generation and transfer of knowledge and on the capacity to attract international talent.

Accompanied Marta Vilalta, member of parliament for ERC, and by ERC’s secretary of economic policy Albert Castellanos, and head of the Universities and Research Sector, Lluís Pujadas, the president of ERC visited IRB Barcelona’s laboratories and facilities, located at the Barcelona Science Park. While conversing with various group leaders at the institute, Oriol Junqueras praised the efforts made and dedication to research and emphasized the importance of this sector for the future of the region. 'The Catalonia of the future will be driven by research policies and by promoting the full potential of our scientists. We train outstanding researchers in our universities and centres, Catalonia boasts talent, it is an investment that cannot be overlooked because it is a guarantee for the future'.

The ERC delegation was received by Joan Guinovart, director of the centre and full professor of the University of Barcelona. The visit included the Cancer Metastasis Lab, headed by ICREA researcher Roger Gomis, founder of the biotech enterprise Inbiomotion, the Gene Translation Lab, directed by ICREA researcher Lluís Ribas, founder of the company Omnia Molecular, and the Structural Bioinformatics and Network Biology Lab, run by ICREA researcher Patrick Aloy, awarded a European Research Council Consolidator Grant in 2014.

About IRB Barcelona

The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).