Catalonia's public television channel, TV3, has broadcasted various video abstracts that give scientists the opportunity to explain their research funded by the telethon (La Marató) run by the Catalan TV channel in 2015.
Two IRB Barcelona projects devoted to furthering knowledge of the causes, treatments, prevention and cure of diabetes and obesity are among the 34 awarded by this campaign in 2015.
Antonio Zorzano, coordinator of the Molecular Medicine Programme and leader of the Complex Mtabolic Diseases and Mitochondria Lab, explains his study entitled "Mechanisms responsible for the deficient differentiation capacity of adipose tissue-derived stem cells in obesity".
Joan J. Guinovart, group leader of the Metabolic Engineering and Diabetes Therapy Lab, talks about his project "Liver glycogen, a novel target to treat diabetes and obesity".
View the videos (in Catalan)
TV3 has reported on the researchers who received the 12 million euros raised in TV3’s 2012 Marató. Among the projects is that of Salvador Aznar Benitah—head of the Stem Cell and Cancer Laboratory at IRB Barcelona—which addresses metastasis and its relation to the consumption of dietary fat.
El Punt Avui, La Razón, El Periódico, El Economista, among other media, have published an article about the research that was financed with the 12 million euros collected in TV3’s 2012 Marató (telethon) dedicated to cancer. La Marató has highlighted, among others, two IRB Barcelona projects that were awarded funding. On the one hand, Núria López-Bigas developed the "Cancer Genome Interpreter", a platform that allows better selection of treatments for cancer and the prediction of patient response.
RNE has interviewed Antonio Zorzano, head of the Complex Metabolic Diseases and Mitochondria lab at IRB Barcelona, about his research on DOR protein deficiency. Depletion of this protein stimulates the generation of new adipose cells and leads to a less toxic form of obesity. In the interview, Zorzano says that this study will allow the identification of therapeutic targets, which in turn will allow the development of new drugs. This will be a step forward as only three approved drugs are available through a medical prescription in Spain and they are not totally effective.
