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IRB Barcelona researchers organize the final meeting of the European network in Barcelona
After four years of activity, this week has seen the final meeting of the European consortium CANGENIN -Cancer and Control of Genomic Integrity -. The CANGENIN consortium is a European Cost Action that seeks to strengthen research in leading fields of science in Europe, to set up collaboration networks and to facilitate the training of young researchers. The scientists Travis Stracker and Angel R. Nebreda, both at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and participants in the consortium, co-organized the final CANGENIN meeting in Barcelona. The 3-day event has involved 75 scientists from 15 countries.
“One of the main characteristics of European Cost Actions is that they allow the development of research networks throughout Europe, thus facilitating the establishment of collaboration agreements between groups working in different countries. As an added value, these agreements can serve as a basis for the preparation of future scientific projects funded by the EU through its framework programmes”, says Angel R. Nebreda, ICREA professor at IRB Barcelona, BBVA Foundation senior researcher, and recent awardee of an ERC Advanced Grant. This scenario is exemplified by Travis Stracker, head of the Genomic Instability and Cancer Laboratory at IRB Barcelona, who explains that “thanks to the programme I have three new collaborations with groups in Europe and some of my students had the opportunity to attend several conferences and learn new techniques that later were implemented in the lab”.
In the final meeting, Carina Holmberg-Still, working at the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Helsinki, and coordinator of CANGENIN, presented a summary of the activities and, among other information, informed participants that the network had involved 50 research groups from 22 countries. During its implementation, CANGENIN has held five plenary conferences and two training schools for young researchers, and 25 students have spent short periods learning specialized techniques in other labs belonging to the consortium.
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).
