in vivo October 2010
|
Issue 12
NEWSLETTER OF THE INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN BIOMEDICINE
New clues to disarming the deadliest herpes virus IRB Barcelona scientists discover new clues to disarm the human cytomegalovirus, the deadliest herpes virus and the cause of serious defects in newborns Page 02
Beyond static structures An opinion article about the importance of intrinsically disordered proteins in biomedicine and the need for a change of paradigm Page 04
New PhD students think outside the box
A revolutionary technique The Advanced Digital Microscopy Core Facility introduces a revolutionary technique into its portfolio of services
IRB Barcelona talks with four new PhD students who joined the Institute in September to find out about their first impressions and research experiences Page 02
Page 05
03
Partnering for health
05
IRB Barcelona retreat: city break style
06
Faces to Names: Interview with Marco Milรกn
07
The science and art of molecular dynamics
New PhD students think outside the box
F
inding an original thesis idea that is distinct from the millions of dissertations already published worldwide is a challenging task. This year’s class of PhD students has spent their first month in IRB Barcelona laboratories thinking outside the box to find original research approaches for their thesis work. The students — funded either by “la Caixa/IRB Barcelona International
“The PhD training is one of the best
PhD Programme or exclusively by IRB Barcelona — are joining an established community of more than 150 PhD students currently doing their thesis work in one of the Institute’s laboratories. One month after the PhD Introductory Course held on September 6-10, IRB Barcelona talked with four new students to find out about their first impressions and research experiences in the Institute.
Council to help me get familiar with my new
explains
moments to propel your career and acquire
surroundings and guide me through the internal
physicist Con-
new technical skills and research experience.
resources at IRB Barcelona.” Trempolec will
stanze Braasch
It’s also a great opportunity to think big and
be working in Angel Nebreda’s lab to find new
(Germany,
mature as a person,” says PhD student Mariano
clues on the role of cell signalling in cancer.
1984), new PhD
Maffei (Italy, 1985). He has Pon’s research group soaking
Only weeks after joining
student in Maria
❝The PhD training is a
the Institute, many new PhD
Macia’s labora-
great opportunity to think big and mature as a person❞
students have already started
tory.
up literature on a family of enzymes that plays a key role in cell migration, development and immune response.
to do lab rotations, an initia-
Asked about
tive aimed to promote future
his expecta-
collaborations and explore the
tions beyond
(From top) Maffei, Trempolec, Tatarski and Braasch.
science carried out in other research pro-
four years of doing doctoral work, PhD student
grammes. “I chose to do my lab rotation in
in Antonio Celada’s lab Milos Tatarski (Serbia,
smooth,” says new PhD student Natalia Trem-
the Oncology Programme because this was a
1983) says he hopes his thesis results on macro-
polec (Poland, 1985). “I was assigned, right
unique opportunity to sneak in a completely
phages will contribute to “finding clues for de-
from the start, a mentor from the PhD Student
different research area like DNA damage,”
veloping drugs that target immune diseases.”
“The adaptation process has been very
PHOTOS: N. BARBERÍA
spent his first weeks in Miquel
.
IN FOCUS
New clues to disarming the deadliest herpes virus
P
atients infected with the human cytomegalovi-
three-dimensional structure of a protein that is es-
rus, the deadliest form of the herpes virus and
sential for the replication of the cytomegalovirus, a
the cause of serious defects in newborn chil-
discovery that could potentially lead to finding new
dren, have a new reason to be hopeful. Researchers
drugs to treat the entire herpes virus family. The
in the IRB Barcelona Laboratory on Structural Biol-
results were published in the journal Proceedings of
ogy of Proteins and Nucleic Acids have unraveled the
the National Academy of Sciences in September.
When researchers in Miquel Coll’s labora-
Coll (left) and Nadal (right) worked structure of the terminase nuclease
of the AIDS virus. This resemblance led the
did,” explains researcher Marta Nadal, first author of this finding.
tory unraveled the three-dimensional structure
laboratory to suspect that raltegravir, the drug
of the nuclease domain of the terminase DNA
approved in 2007 for the treatment of AIDS,
The next step for the laboratory, ac-
packaging complex they came across an unex-
could also be effective against the herpes virus
cording to Group Leader Miquel Coll, will
pected clue: They found out that the protein
family.
be to collaborate with a team of virologists
was not only important for the replication of
“We decided to run experiments with
and chemists “to find ways to improve the
the herpes virus, but its shape was very similar
raltegravir to see if it would also work for
function of raltegravir and alter its formula
to integrase, a key protein in the propagation
the human cytomegalovirus terminase, and it
to be effective to stop the propagation
02
in vivo
October 2010
| Issue 12
SCIENCE BITES
Partnering for health
F
inding new strategies and
aimed at finding
technologies to tackle
new drugs to con-
complex diseases is a com-
trol infections that
➲
mon goal of several IRB Barcelona
are caused by RNA viruses and which
research groups who have recently
kill millions of people every year.
partnered up in new international
Computational biologists in
projects funded by the European
Modesto Orozco’s group also
Commission.
started work this fall toward finding
Through the new FP7 project
promising computing techniques and
NIMBL (Nuclease Immune Mediated
life-science applications to speed up
Brain and Lupus-like conditions),
research results. The group’s efforts
Antonio Celada’s Macrophage Biol-
are part of Scalalife (Scalable Software
ogy Group will tackle the Aicardi-
Services for Life Science), an EC-
Goutieres Syndrome, a rare genetic
funded project whose goal is to pro-
disorder that causes fatal lesions in
vide the scientific community with the
children. The team’s ultimate goal for
latest cutting-edge e-infrastructures
the next four years will be to find new
for research by 2013.
mechanisms that allow macrophages
The IRB Barcelona Advanced Digi-
to repair the broken DNA that char-
tal Microscopy Core Facility, led by
acterizes this syndrome.
researcher Julien Colombelli, has also
Crystallography experts in Miquel
recently joined Euro-Bioimaging, an in-
Coll’s group also joined efforts with
ternational network of imaging experts
many international research partners
aimed at offering access, services and
in October as part of the EC-funded
training to state-of-the-art bioimaging
project Silver, a four-year initiative
technologies across Europe.
.
which have a long list of contraindications. The human cytomegalovirus is the most dreaded member of the herpes virus family. Patients carrying the virus are at higher risk for complications if they are pregnant – if the virus infects the fetus it can PHOTO: A. ALSINA
hand in hand to unravel the three-dimensional domain (illustrated on computer screen).
of this deadly herpes virus.” The ultimate goal for the next coming
provoke irreversible anomalies in the baby’s brain – and if they have low immune defenses and are about to undergo transplants. In people with AIDS, the human cytomegalovirus can cause blindness. The incidence of the human
years is to find a new antiviral drug
congenital cytomegalovirus disease
that inhibits the replication of the
is higher than Down syndrome in
human cytomegalovirus and that
newborn babies, according to recent
.
has minimalside effects, as opposed
epidemiological studies run in the
to current drugs available in the
USA. Unfortunately there is no vac-
market for the treatment of herpes
cine against the virus.
A promising peptide to weaken the African swine fever virus
A new peptide designed by IRB Barcelona chemists in Ernest Giralt’s laboratory could put a stop to the replication of the African swine fever virus, one of the most dreaded epidemic diseases in pigs. Published in the Journal of Virology in September, the group has managed to come up with a new peptide that not only weakens the virus but it also reduces the infection process. According to researcher Teresa Tarragó, this new mechanism to block viral infection could open new avenues for other viral diseases such as AIDS, herpes, rabies and adenoviruses.
➲
New insight into the toxicity of amyloid aggregates
Xavier Salvatella’s research group has one of the most feared processes in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid aggregation, in its crosshairs. The IRB Barcelona Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics published a new discovery in the September issue of the Journal of Molecular Biology that sheds some light on why amyloid aggregates are toxic and the mechanisms by which they damage cells. The study, first-authored by researcher Maria Mossuto, suggests that toxicity doesn’t depend on the size of the aggregates but on their structural properties.
➲
A step forward to unlocking the microtubule machinery
Guided by the suspicion that something had been left behind, IRB Barcelona researchers in Jens Lüders’ Microtubule Organization Group spent months reanalyzing a protein complex that was discovered over 15 years ago and that is crucial in organizing microtubules. The group recently unraveled a new core subunit inside this gamma-tubulin complex that might play a critical role in cells that have stopped dividing and need to organize microtubules in more specialized settings. The study was published in the September issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell and was led by researcher Neus Teixidó.
➲
A sophisticated mechanism to control embryonic development
The wings of the fruit fly recently helped the Development and Morphogenesis in Drosophila Laboratory to unravel one of the mysteries of embryonic development. IRB Barcelona researcher Andreu Casali discovered a new cellular mechanism to detect the signaling pathway of Hedgehog, a critical protein in embryonic development which is involved in some types of brain, muscle and skin cancer. If this mechanism found in flies works the same way in humans, Casali says the discovery could lead to new strategies to control Hedgegog and develop drugs down the road to treat the diseases it causes. The results were published in the August’s edition of Science Signaling.
in vivo
October 2010
| Issue 12
ON THE SPOT
Beyond static structures
Barcelona BioMed Seminar series
A
❝
Microtubules play a key role in muscle formation❞
paradigm-breaking discovery in structural biology has been the fact that about two thirds of the
proteins in eukaryotic cells are predicted to lack stable structure or contain large disordered regions. The importance of unustructured proteins is in striking contrast with the current data available in the Protein Data Bank, the main source of our understanding of proteins from a structural point of view and which mostly
PHOTO: N. BARBERÍA
diseases that lead to severe muscle weakness, still have no effective
cure. Although some patients diagnosed with these debilitating conditions can lead normal lives, for others the disorders can be severely disabling and in some cases even life threaten-
only well-defined structures. Unlike well-folded proteins, intrinsically disordered ones do not crystallize, as they sample an astronomical number of conformations. Unstructured regions are often considered just as linkers or mere “decorations” without structural
IRB Barcelona researchers Miquel Pons and Pau Bernadó (top left and right) were the local organizers of the Barcelona BioMed Conference devoted to disordered proteins.
and functional interest. This paradigm is now changing as a result of
❝Eighty per
proteins, and not only static-folded structures, can also perform function.
ing. Andreas Merdes, group leader at the In-
the efforts of
stitute for Developmental Biology (Toulouse)
a number of
was at IRB Barcelona on October 1 to present
pioneers, many
his latest work on the role of microtubules in
of them present
myogenesis.
at the IRB Bar-
- What have you found out?
celona Biomed
structural basis of the organization of
“Microtubules go through a complete reorgani-
Conference on Intrinsically Disordered
higher organisms, and there is no doubt
zation in muscle cells that today is still poorly
Proteins in Biomedicine held in Barcelona
that flexibility and disorder are at the root
understood. We believe that microtubules play
on October 4-6, and organized in collabo-
of their complexity.
a key role in the muscles—they are like railroad
ration with the BBVA Foundation.
tracks that facilitate the orientation of all the
cent of the proteins linked to cancer have long disordered regions❞
a key role in the survival of eukaryotic cells.
Our ultimate goal is to understand the way
In fact, there’s a striking proposal which
unravel the defective mechanisms that lead to muscle weakness and find new ways to tackle dystrophies.” - What would happen in the body if microtubules failed to function properly? “Malfunction of microtubules and associated proteins has been linked to several known diseases, including brain development disorders, kidney conditions and even neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. No higher organism can live without microtubules, they are
states that disordered proteins are one of the features that enabled organisms to attain an organization level beyond that of pro-
of a new era in the understanding of the
.
Miquel Pons/Pau Bernadó
Coming soon Barcelona BioMed Conferences October 25-27, 2010: Macrophages
cent of the proteins linked to cancer – asso-
and Inflammation
ciated to altered regulation of key processes
November 8-10, 2010: Cancer
– have long disordered regions.
Metabolism
The fact that this association between disorder and higher organization seems controversial highlights the conceptual challenge we are facing. Established paradigms such as the relationship between structure
no cell division and inheriting genetic informa-
and function have to be reinterpreted and
tion would be impossible. Even bacteria need
take into account the fact that disordered
.
rules of the game. We are at the dawn
karyotes. It’s not surprising that eighty per
essential for life. Without them there would be
microtubule-related proteins to survive!”
ensembles, but we have still to learn the
Intrinsically disordered proteins play
elements required for muscle contraction. microtubules are reorganized in muscle cells to
There’s a clear need for a shift of paradigm from static structures to disordered
March 21-23, 2011: Mitochondrial Autophagy
September 19-21, 2011: Signal Rewiring and Addiction in Cancer
October 24-26, 2011: Macromolecular Dynamics
PHOTOS: N. NORIEGA
M
uscular dystrophies, degenerative
contains information on proteins with
A revolutionary technique
T
he Advanced Digital Micros-
spread out on them, adopting a specific shape.
copy (ADM) Core Facility has
This approach allows scientists to establish the
recently introduced a revolution-
exact location of a given cell and prevents cell
ary technology into its portfolio of services.
clustering. Not only do the cells present all
In partnership with the company CYTOO
the same shape, they also adopt a very similar
Cell Architects, the facility is now offer-
intracellular organization and this feature
ing to its users a new
makes the results much
adhesive micropattern
more reproducible.
An EMBO meeting detour
M
observation of cells
to get significant results.
events in molecular biology. Lucky for IRB
under a microscope.
These can now be
Barcelona, the event was held just around the
achieved with less than a
corner at the Palau de Congressos and provided
hundred.
a perfect opportunity for a group of scientists
IMAGE:
study thousands of cells
technology that will
®CYTOO
facilitate all processes that call for the direct
A few centres are now providing this
Previous to this development it was necessary to
ore than 1,300 life scientists descended on Barcelona in early September to take part in the EMBO
Meeting - one of the year’s most important
technology and the
The micropat-
ADM Core Facility
terned products (both
An enthusiastic bunch of predocs and post-
in chip and microplate
docs from across Europe signed up for the tour
formats) that CYTOO
and got a first-hand look at some of IRB Bar-
develops consist of a
celona’s activities as they visited the Advanced
has become the first Spanish reference site.
Cells adhere to a micropattern allowing for easier study under the microscope.
“The originality of
to take a detour and visit the Institute.
micropatterning is that you can work in a
glass surface covered with patterned adhe-
Digital Microscopy Facility and the Colorectal
high-throughput manner, in a reproducible
sive proteins (so that cells adhere to this site
Cancer Lab led by Eduard Batlle (above).
way, ” explains Julien Colombelli, manager
and adopt a given shape) surrounded by
of the core facility.
a repulsive coating (to prevent cells from
about research, services and possibilities for
adhering to the rest of the surface).
training at IRB Barcelona. As the tour ended
Up to now, in order to study cells under a microscope they had to be placed in a random fashion in contact with other cells and they
For more information on this technology contact microscopy@irbbarcelona.org.
adopted diverse shapes. Adhesive micropat-
Nahia Barbería
terns capture cells in a regular array and cells
They grilled our scientists with questions
and the visitors headed back to the EMBO
.
Meeting, it was clear that they left needing little convincing that Barcelona is a great place to follow a career in science.
IRB Barcelona retreat: city break style
T
.
rading in the usual backdrop of the
work for the activities, as sessions were
(ABG Patentes), who discussed lessons
Montseny mountains for Barcelo-
organized around scientific themes, rather
learned from dealing with cases of intellectu-
na’s historical center, IRB Barcelona
than by programme. RNA Biology, Kinases
al property in the field of biomedicine.
researchers hit the town this year for their
and Disease, Polymer Accumulation pro-
annual retreat, held on October 14-15.
vided much food for thought (as did lunch at
More than 100 scientists, including group
a nearby salad bar), as researchers combined
leaders, facility managers, postdocs, and the
their diverse expertise and knowledge in
new crop of PhD students, gathered at the
these areas.
Residència d’Investigadors (run by CSIC)
In addition to all the science talk, par-
for two days of intensive discussions about
ticipants heard from guest speakers Michela
current IRB Barcelona science, and to take a
Bertero (CRG), who gave valuable tips on
look at future directions.
securing funding for collaborative research
Multidisciplinarity provided the frame-
projects from the EU, and Agustín Alconada
in vivo
October 2010
| Issue 12
05
FACES TO NAMES Marco Milán. Group Leader, IRB Barcelona Development and Growth Control Laboratory
❝
Singapore is striving to become the scientific hub of Asia...and it will❞ - What was it like to be a foreign scientist?
ANNA ALSINA
“The hospitality I was greeted with when I ar-
A
rived in IMCB was quite amazing. They offered
radical lifestyle change can be a very
me two offices! The fact is that forty-two per
mind-opening experience, especially
cent of the population in Singapore are foreign-
when it involves working on an island in
ers and the government is investing a large sum
Southeast Asia among Chinese, Malays, Indians,
of money in science. They don’t know what
Asians and Caucasians. “Arriving in Singapore
research cuts are there. Singapore is striving to
was like landing on Mars at first,” said IRB Bar-
become the scientific hub of Asia...and it will.”
celona group leader Marco Milán just a few days upon return from this Asian island. Milán took his
- Is science organized differently there?
family to spend the entire summer in Singapore
“The structure of the lab and daily work
– from June to the end of September – as visiting
routines are pretty much identical. What really
professor at the Institute of Molecular and Cell
struck me was that most of the researchers
Biology (IMCB) and at the National University
were newcomers or had been in the Institute
of Singapore.
only since 2000. The government is convincing
- What was it like living on an Asian island?
foreign experts to renounce to their positions in their country of origin and go to Singapore
“Singapore is one of the fastest growing econo-
to work full-time. There are many renowned
mies in the world. Their gross domestic product
scientists who have already moved there. The
is expanding at an annual rate of more than
city is becoming very competitive and is grow-
20%. The quality of life there is spectacular. It’s an evergreen city—the views from our eleventhfloor apartment were of nothing but trees and vegetation. Also, the climate is perfect, housing
Milán’s trip to Singapore was part of an ongoing collaboration on microRNAs with genomics expert Stephen Cohen, acting director of the IMCB.
ing really fast.” - One day the island might be overgrown... “In fact, Singapore is facing serious problems with neighboring territories because the city is
is very affordable, the food is amazingly cheap and acoustic pollution is pretty much inexistent.
- How is street safety sustained?
importing soil extracted from nearby coun-
Cars don’t honk there! Singapore is a big city
“One would think that sustaining a dictator-
tries to be able to extend its land mass. There
but it still preserves townish things that big
ship without police forces is impossible, but
are islands in Indonesia that are disappearing
European cities have lost.”
believe it or not, it’s not true, at least in Singa-
because of this digging. It has also generated
- For example?
pore. There are no police on the streets, you
problems with Malaysia because the digging
“If an elderly on a walking stick gets on a bus,
never see them. I think everyone there is very
has changed the ocean levels and many ships
the driver won’t take off until she finds a seat.
aware of the things that can’t be done and so
can’t make it there anymore.”
Or if the bus driver sees that you’re running late
they just don’t cross the line.”
- What did you learn after three months of
he will stop and wait for you to arrive. I remem-
- How is the coexistence between the differ-
immersion in Oriental culture?
ber once in a restaurant we were pretty shocked
ent ethnic groups?
“I realized that what we call quality of life in
to see three nine year-old girls eating without
“The biggest Hindu temple happens to be in
the West is in fact questionable and that there
their parents. When they went to order food
a Buddhist district. It’s amazing to see how
are other ways of life completely different to
they left their purses and a fifty-euro bill on the
Buddhism, Hinduism and the Islamic religion
our culture that may be very enriching. Singa-
table. Nobody stole anything. It’s a completely
coexist in harmony with no conflict. It’s a spec-
pore is like the oasis of Asia. The European is
safe city, kids go out on their own all the time.
tacular example of integration and acceptance
not the only model, and it may not be the best
There’s a feeling of protection everywhere.”
for the world.”
one either.”
06
in vivo
October 2010
| Issue 12
.
The science and art of
IN BRIEF From computers to the clinics IRB Barcelona Group Leader Patrick Aloy got the green light in September to organize and coordinate ‘Network Medicine Approaches to Human Disease: From Computers to the Clinics’, a conference scheduled for 2011 in Barcelona. Financed through the 2010 ICREA Conference Award, the event will bring together leading minds in the world of cell networks, systems biology, drug design and personalized medicine to discuss the latest and most promising network-based therapeutic strategies to fight complex diseases.
Acknowledged twice in a row Miquel Pons’ research contributions to nuclear magnetic resonance in Spain landed him the GERMN award
S
molecular dynamics
cience and art have been lifelong passions of PhD student Laura Orellana. Recently she had the
opportunity to combine the two as she published not only her first article as a first author – she also got to showcase her artistic talents on the journal’s cover. The September issue of the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Chemical
with the usual molecular dynamics simulations,
Theory and Computation boasts a charcoal
which require supercomputers such as the
illustration she did of the C-α carbons net-
MareNostrum, but with a much lower cost – it
work of proteins, which provides the basis for
can run on a laptop! The key is a minimalist
a new elastic network model that she and her
description of the protein structures using resi-
colleagues in Modesto Orozco’s Molecular
dues instead of atoms, which allows researchers
Modeling and Bioinformatics Group developed
to trace large structural changes important to
to describe protein flexibility.
protein function.
Superimposed on top of this protein net-
Producing the cover image proved to be a
work is the structure of a protein channel and
challenge, confesses Orellana. In addition to
the conformational ensemble predicted by the
developing the programmes to do the science,
new method that she generated using molecu-
she had to master graphic design software in
lar visualization software. The new theoretical
order to integrate computer-generated images
model produces results close to those obtained
seamlessly with her own illustration.
.
NEWS FROM THE PARK
in September, given by the NMR specialized group of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry. The award came just two months after he was appointed trea-
A functional food to reduce excess weight
surer of the EUROMAR society, which organizes the main annual magnetic
An intense scientific discussion on systems biology between Nobel Prize
T
here’s new hope for overweight people.
commercial name of Fagopure®. The company
BioGlane, a spin-off company from the
is offering a new concept in functional foods:
Spanish National Research Council, an-
“Fagopure® not only contributes to developing
nounced in September the discovery of a form
healthy and tasty food, but its regular use also
of sugar that can prevent weight gain while
favors the adhesion of probiotics, the friendly
PhD student Roland Pache was the first
also promoting healthy intestinal flora. “We’ve
bacteria necessary for digestive health,” ex-
film in a video series of dialogs between
found out that D-fagomine – a natural variant
plains Sergi Pumarola, director and co-founder
Nobel laureates and young students to
of sugar present in buckwheat – combats excess
of BioGlane. The spin-off plans to begin the
be released on Nature’s website in Sep-
weight effectively and safely by reducing the
process to request authorization to commer-
tember. Pache was among the only five
speed at which the body absorbs refined sugars
cialize this product in the United States and
PhD students chosen by Nature to take
and starches,” says Josep Lluís Torres, CSIC
Europe at the beginning of 2011.
part in this series, shot in July during the
researcher and co-founder of BioGlane.
winner Tim Hunt and IRB Barcelona
60 Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. th
®BIOGLANE
On film with a Nobel laureate
The PCB-based spin-off BioGlane discovers a new use for a natural variant of sugar present in buckwheat that could help reduce excess weight.
PHOTO:
resonance meeting in Europe.
Using proprietary enzyme technology, BioGLane is producing D-fagomine under the
.
BioGLane is supported by Genoma España, Caja Navarra, and other organizations belonging to central and regional governments.
in vivo
October 2010
| Issue 12
07
SPOTLIGHT
NEW AT IRB BARCELONA
Never too young for research
T
his summer Jens Lüders’ lab at IRB Barcelona hosted a very young researcher. 18-year-old Antoni Planella from Lleida
was part of one of the first groups of 50 secondary school students to participate in the ‘Joves i Ciència’ programme, a three-year initiative organized by Caixa Catalunya’s Obra Social.
Ivan del Barco (Spain, 1972) is widely traveled. He has lived in Toronto, Heidelberg and finally Madrid, his last stop before he came to IRB Barcelona to work as Research Associate in Angel Nebreda’s group. Ivan works on mouse cancer models and the lab already has at its disposal models for colon, breast and lung cancer. He likes Barcelona, although he is a Real Madrid supporter and has detected many Barça fans at IRB Barcelona. Asked about the possibility of returning to his hometown one day, Ivan says it’s still a big question mark. “The life of a scientist is very wavering because it’s difficult to find stable employment. I hope that, little by little, more opportunities are made available in Spain and I don’t need to move abroad again.”
- What did you do at IRB Barcelona? “I spent the summer working with researcher Sabine Klischies performing cell and molecular biology experiments. I learned lots of techniques, including PCR, electrophoresis, transfections, immunoprecipitation, Western blots... you name it!”
Planella spent his first summer in the programme living in a hostel/lab in Planes de Son, a center full of activities for science enthusiasts located in the Pyrenees and run by Caixa Catalunya’s Obra Social.
- How would you sum up your experience? “It was extremely useful. Not only have I learnt tons of things and new techniques but I have also gained insight into the day-to-day routine of a true scientist and I think that is what is most important.
After nearly five years of working with zebrafish in the Center for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, Mariana Muzzopappa (Argentina) decided to make a move and switch back to the fruit fly, a model she studied in depth during her thesis. She joined Marco Milán’s research group as a Postdoctoral Fellow in September to help the team pursue new hypotheses. She will spend many hours analyzing fruit fly wing discs under the microscope to understand factors that govern their development. Mariana likes to spend part of her free time hiking and has recently enrolled a yoga teachers’ training course to become a certified teacher one day.
An engineer specialized in signal processing has joined the Advanced Digital Microscopy Core Facility as Senior Research Officer. Sébastien Tosi’s (France, 1977) work will consist of helping researchers to get the most out of their scientific images by designing image processing algorithms and custom-made software. After completing his PhD studies in telecommunications in Ireland, Sébastien worked for several years in a Spanish semiconductor company and this is the first time he is getting involved in biomedicine. He is motivated by the idea of participating in a process that can benefit humanity. “One of the things I like most about my new position is that it stands at the crossroads between optics, biology and image processing,” he comments. Sébastien has lived in Barcelona before and really loves the city.
I also learnt some English! The whole team was incredibly helpful and constructive.” - Do you know what you want to do in the future? “Right now I’m starting my degree in biomedicine. I still don’t know what I want to do when I finish but I think I will probably continue studying. I
.
would like to end up working in a lab and also teaching some classes at a school or university. I still have a long way to go.”
Nahia Barbería
Esther Fernández (Spain, 1983) has been quite busy handling administrative tasks since her arrival in IRB Barcelona in September. As the new Structural and Computational Biology Programme Secretary, she will be performing a variety of administrative tasks, including providing support in the organization of the Barcelona BioMed Seminars, making travel arrangements and assisting conference speakers invited by the programme, helping PhD students to clarify questions, and monitoring the programme’s annual budget. It’s not the first time Esther steps into the world research. In her previous position at the UPC’s School of Architecture of Vallès she provided administrative support to researchers working on sustainable architecture.”
In vivo, issue 12. Published by the Institute for Research in Biomedicine. Office of Communications & External Relations. Barcelona Science Park. Baldiri Reixac, 10. 08028 Barcelona, Spain. www.irbbarcelona.org Editor: Anna Alsina. Associate Editor: Sarah Sherwood. Contributors: Nahia Barbería, Pau Bernadó, Miquel Pons, Tanya Yates. Design: Aymerich Comunicació. Printing: Puresa. Graphic Production: La Trama. Legal deposit: B-1731-2010. This document has been printed on recycled paper. To subscribe or unsubscribe from in vivo email info@irbbarcelona.org © IRB Barcelona
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