Our group recently visited the Vinya d’en Sabater and the Escuela de Restauración de Santa Coloma, both located within the Campus de l’Alimentació de Torribera in Santa Coloma de Gramenet.

The Vinya d’en Sabater is an ecological and vegan vineyard that spans one hectare, cultivating five grape varieties, Pansa Blanca, Picapoll Blanc, Garrut, Garnatxa, and Picapoll Negre, and has been part of the DO Alella since 2020. Over the past decade, more than 13,000 kg of grapes have been harvested, involving over 200 participants through local training and employment programs. The vineyard has become a model of sustainability, education, and community engagement, and was recently honoured with the Premi Vinari for Best Recovery Initiative for its role in reviving Santa Coloma’s winemaking tradition.

After the vineyard tour, we were warmly hosted by the Escuela de Restauración de Santa Coloma, where we prepared huevos revueltos con rebozuelos, ajo y perejil and mousse de mató con miel y carquinyolis, featuring traditional Catalan products. The visit beautifully combined sustainability, gastronomy, and local heritage.

On June 17th our group participated in the CBDD Group Meeting, an annual conference held within our wider group. This year’s topic was “Computational Applications to Structure-Function and Structure-Activity” and we were very grateful for the participation of the group of Prof. Antonios Kolocouris from the University of Athens, Greece

Several PhD students participated by giving short talks about their projects. Mireia presented the latest developments of the Alzheimer’s project entitled “Computational assessment of monomeric Aβ folding: Paving the way for the aggregation study,” while Carol showcased her research lines, fostering discussions and potential new collaborations.

Katerina Barmpidi participated in the 20th Hellenic Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry held in Ioannina, Greece, where she presented her work on AMPK modulation, part of her ongoing PhD project in computational drug discovery.

As a board member of the EFMC Young Scientists Network (EFMC-YSN) of the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology (EFMC), Katerina was delighted to represent the network, meet enthusiastic young researchers, and exchange ideas on initiatives to further strengthen the scientific community.

Our PhD students attended the IQTC Meeting, which took place on October 30^th and 31^st at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Universitat de Barcelona. This event allows IQTC members to share the findings obtained from their research and Katerina had the opportunity to present part of her PhD project entitled “Exploring Novel Mechanisms in Paradoxical AMPK Inhibitors”.

Moreover, Mireia participated with a poster entitled “Assessing the molecular factors involved in the inhibition of Choline Trimethylamine-Lyase” and won the prize for Best Poster of the Conference.

Congrats, girls!

The 11^th edition of the EFMC Young Medicinal Chemists’ Symposium held in Rome, on September 5-6, 2024 was organised by the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology (EFMC) and the EFMC Young Scientists Network (YSN). The event was organised in connection with the XXVIII EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC-ISMC 2024). 

Katerina presented a poster with the last results of AMPK inhibitor MT47 involved in diabetes disease!