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The laboratory of Eduard Batlle, in collaboration with the Group of Azucena Salas at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, will explore the therapeutic potencial of intestinal stem cells.
TV3’s La Marató Foundation has awarded a €300,000 grant to IRB Barcelona’s Colorectal Cancer lab, led by ICREA researcher Eduard Batlle, and the group of Azucena Salas from the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, allowing them to explore the regeneration and transplantation of organs and tissues. The Foundation awarded the La Marató 2011 grants today. A total of €8,000,000 has been given to 56 researchers who will work on 29 projects.
Present at the ceremony were Boi Ruiz, Minister of Health of the Catalan Government, Dídac Ramírez, Rector of the University of Barcelona and Brauli Duart, president of the Catalan Corporation for Audiovisual Media and of TV3’s La Marató Foundation.
Inflammatory bowel diseases
The aim of the basic research project led by Batlle and Salas is to investigate the potential of the transplantation of intestinal stem cells to treat lesions caused by inflammatory bowel diseases.
These chronic diseases affect 2.2 million people in Europe, and the number of cases diagnosed is rapidly increasing. Current treatments are not sufficiently effective in the majority of patients. Effects such as fibrosis, ulcers and fistulas are common and are associated with high morbidity. Surgery is often the only therapeutic option in advanced cases. Transplanting intestinal stem cells into the damaged areas may offer an effective alternative.
For more information on the ceremony and the studies financed: TV3’s La Marató Foundation
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).
