Designing new therapy strategies against serious illnesses with CaixaImpulse program

Caixaimpulse is born aiming to promote the transformation of scientific knowledge in businesses which create value to society.
Caixaimpulse is born aiming to promote the transformation of scientific knowledge in businesses which create value to society.
Research
(29/04/2016)

Developing new medicines for inflammatory and cardiovascular disorders and designing new technologies of stem cells for the treatment of hepatic, pulmonary and pancreatic illnesses -are the aims of the two projects in the University of Barcelona presented by the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG) and selected on the first call of the CaixaImpulse program. This initiative, co-organized by Obra Social La Caixa and Caixa Capital Risc, is born aiming to promote the transformation of scientific knowledge in businesses which create value to society, and it gives 1,3 million euros to the founding of biotechnology businesses.

Caixaimpulse is born aiming to promote the transformation of scientific knowledge in businesses which create value to society.
Caixaimpulse is born aiming to promote the transformation of scientific knowledge in businesses which create value to society.
Research
29/04/2016

Developing new medicines for inflammatory and cardiovascular disorders and designing new technologies of stem cells for the treatment of hepatic, pulmonary and pancreatic illnesses -are the aims of the two projects in the University of Barcelona presented by the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG) and selected on the first call of the CaixaImpulse program. This initiative, co-organized by Obra Social La Caixa and Caixa Capital Risc, is born aiming to promote the transformation of scientific knowledge in businesses which create value to society, and it gives 1,3 million euros to the founding of biotechnology businesses.

Type 2 Diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular problems and neuropathic pain are disorders related to each other and which provoke a serious health problem. Although there are several treatments for these illnesses, they are the main death causes, and this is becoming more common among young people. Producing new compounds with a better pharmacologic profile in order to treat these illnesses is the main aim of a research team of the Faculty of Pharmacy, led by Professor Rosana Leiva and in which the researchers Francisco J. Luque Garriga, Santiago Vázquez Cruz and Manuel Vázquez Carrera participate. For more information, the video about the research project can be seen here:

 

Nowadays lots of illnesses affecting liver, lungs, intestine and pancreas have no cure. Regenerating therapies, based on stem cells, are giving good results and they give a steady hope for the cure of damaged organs and tissues. However, the current protocols to get these cells are rather complex and require a long and difficult process. The main focus of the project -led by Professor Belén Álvarez from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences- are the stem cell new technologies to treat hepatic, pulmonary and pancreatic illnesses. The project wants to design a new and simple procedure that, from the stem cells taken from the same patientʼs skin, helps to create multi-powerful cells -able to generate different kinds of tissues- as a base for the new regenerating therapies to treat liver, lungs, intestine and pancreas illnesses. The video can be seen in this link: