Institut de Recerca Sant Pau - Centre CERCA
The Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and the Tibidabo Amusement Park have signed a collaboration agreement to promote the dissemination of gender-focused research and encourage scientific vocations among the young, with the central theme being the celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in February 2025. This agreement demonstrates the shared commitment of both entities to promote a more equitable society aware of the importance of science and the role of women in this field and to drive a project that combines science, gender perspective, fun, and outreach.
Researchers from the Neuromuscular Diseases Group and the Dementia Neurobiology Group of the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and the Memory Unit of the Sant Pau Hospital, led by neurologist Dr. Ricard Rojas-García, have identified a new mutation in the ARPP21 gene that could be the cause of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a devastating neurodegenerative disease.
The Sant Pau Research Institute celebrated today the laying of the cornerstone of its new Advanced Therapies Unit. These new facilities, supported by the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute and the Josep Carreras Foundation against Leukaemia, solidify themselves as a strategic resource for the Sant Pau Campus. They enable the development and manufacturing of personalized biological medicines within the hospital center for the treatment of its patients, reaffirming Sant Pau’s position as a global reference center in this field.
Researchers from the Research Area on Neurological Diseases, Neuroscience, and Mental Health at the Sant Pau Research Institute, led by Dr. Juan Fortea, Director of the Memory Unit of the Neurology Service at the same hospital, have found that over 95% of individuals over 65 years old who have two copies of the APOE4 gene -APOE4 homozygotes- show biological characteristics of Alzheimer’s pathology in the brain or biomarkers of this disease in cerebrospinal fluid and PET scans.
The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked extensive discussions about its effect on mental health. While global suicide rates remained stable during the pandemic, the specific impact on non-lethal suicidal behaviors, namely, ideation or suicide attempts that are survived, during and after the pandemic had not been explored.
