HUB Alzheimer Barcelona holds its first symposium to foster emerging talent in Alzheimer’s research

HUB Alzheimer Barcelona has held its first symposium, “Rising Talent for a World without Alzheimer’s”, at La Pedrera – Casa Milà. The event was dedicated to fostering and connecting emerging talent in research into Alzheimer’s and other dementias in Barcelona.

The symposium brought together more than 160 researchers and representatives from the seven institutions that form part of HUB Alzheimer Barcelona, including the Pasqual Maragall Foundation and its research centre, the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC). The event aimed to promote interdisciplinary collaboration, knowledge exchange and the creation of new scientific synergies between leading research centres and hospitals.

During the event, the first collaborative predoctoral fellowships, the HUB Alzheimer Barcelona PhD Fellowships, were awarded. Promoted by the Pasqual Maragall Foundation and supported by Barcelona City Council, this programme funds three doctoral theses carried out jointly by at least two HUB institutions and co-supervised by a researcher from each of them. Its aim is to promote excellent clinical research, the sharing of resources between different centres, and multidisciplinary and inter-institutional scientific training.

One of the fellowships was awarded to Shahla Ghaderi, who will carry out the project “The role of astroglia in Alzheimer’s disease status and progression (AstroAD project)”, co-supervised by Gemma Salvadó, group leader at the BBRC, and Juan Fortea, from the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau.

The project will study how brain inflammation may influence Alzheimer’s, with a particular focus on the role of astrocytes, a type of glial cell involved in key functions for brain maintenance and response. The research aims to help improve the early diagnosis of the disease and advance towards more effective therapeutic strategies.

The fellowships were presented by Josep Maria Argimon, Director of Health System Relations at the Pasqual Maragall Foundation and current coordinator of the HUB Alzheimer Barcelona Operating Committee. These grants reinforce the HUB’s commitment to collaborative, multidisciplinary and inter-institutional research to accelerate knowledge of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

More about HUB Alzheimer Barcelona

HUB Alzheimer Barcelona was created with the aim of connecting hospitals, research centres, social organisations, public administrations and industry to accelerate research and innovation in Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Eighteen months after its creation, the network has already launched activities in research, training and awareness-raising, consolidating itself as a space for scientific and institutional collaboration in Barcelona.

The initiative, promoted by the Pasqual Maragall Foundation and supported by Barcelona City Council, brings together seven leading institutions in the field of Alzheimer’s in the city. In addition to the Foundation and its research centre, the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center, the founding members include the city’s four leading hospitals — Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Hospital del Mar, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron — together with their biomedical research centres, as well as Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona, the other care and research centre specialised in this disease.