IRB Barcelona - InVivo 6 - April 2009

in vivo April 2009

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April 2009

Issue 06

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Issue 06

NEWSLETTER OF THE INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN BIOMEDICINE

A landscape of science and storytelling

One step further towards gender balance

By now, most of IRB Barcelona’s staff, friends, and supporters have likely seen the new book ‘Science Stories from IRB Barcelona’. The ten stories in this book aim to provide an intimate, well-rounded portrait of the Institute, its science, and the people who work here.

IRB Barcelona and neighbors IBMBCSIC joined forces on April 6 to hold a oneday event for women in science. ‘Towards gender balance’ brought together speakers from research and science politics to talk about their career paths and their experiences in working in different scientific areas.

Students arrive at IRB Barcelona for PhD selection week The selection process for the ”la Caixa”/ IRB Barcelona International PhD Programme, held on March 30-31, brought together students from around the world for a two-day bustle of activity. This year’s call attracted 272 applicants from 49 countries.

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IRB Barcelona runners hit the streets for the 2009 Barcelona Marathon

Marathon runners: Roman Kessler, Jorge Domínguez, Carles Pons, Marc Duocastella, Adelaida Diaz, Ashraf Muhaisen, Jacques Borg, Ignacio Faustino, Andreas Zanzoni and Jascha Blobel (not pictured). Full story on page 5

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Taking science beyond the lab

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Building the path to a biomedical alliance

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Faces to Names: Interview with Travis Stracker

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Sant Jordi, Darwin and Bookcrossing

April 2009

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in vivo

Issue 06

Calling all nations to PhD selection week

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ustria, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Mexico, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland and Tunisia. IRB Barcelona Director Joan Guinovart’s sounded off a truly international roll call to welcome students invited to take part in the selection process for the ”la Caixa”/IRB Barcelona International PhD Programme, held on March 30-31.

research being performed at the Institute, after which the candidates take a tour of the labs and facilities. Students then give short presentations of their own work and scientific interests to the group leaders in their chosen programmes.

This year’s call attracted applications from 272 students from 49 countries. After an initial selection round, 28 students were invited for interviews, and 10 will be admitted to the programme and receive prestigious fellowships awarded by the ”la Caixa” Foundation.

The next day things get down to business as the candidates take part in one-onone interviews with group leaders. Once the formalities are out of the way, and the pressure off, the students are invited to relax and meet some of IRB Barcelona’s more than 170 PhD students at the monthly cool-off session, organized by the Student Council to coincide with the selection week.

The PhD selection process involves a two-day bustle of activity: IRB Barcelona’s five programme coordinators begin by introducing the different lines of

When they arrive to take up their positions at IRB Barcelona in September, the new students will start off with a general introductory course and then get

28 students took part in IRB Barcelona’s PhD selection process on March 30-31.

down to work on research toward their PhD theses, which they are expected to complete over the next 4 years. They’ll also have lots of opportunity to participate in related activities–they’ll take part in the PhD student symposium planned for November, regular activities within the Barcelona BioMed series of seminars, conferences and workshops, as well as a series of social activities including monthly cool-off sessions and a football league, providing plenty of occasion for exchange, both scientific and social.

IRB Barcelona in a landscape of science and storytelling

B

y now, most of IRB Barcelona’s staff, friends, and supporters have likely seen the new book ‘Science Stories from IRB Barcelona’. The ten stories in this book, together with photographs by Maj Britt Hansen, aim to provide an intimate, well-rounded portrait of the Institute, its science, and the people who work here. This approach was inspired by a talk with Joan Guinovart, a little over a year ago, and the book is the product of a close, intensive dialogue with a number of scientists who have gone out of their way to help. The quality of the book is also a result of the efforts of the Office of Communications and External Relations and the creative energy of designer Nicola Graf.

Laboratories usually produce reports as an obligation to their advisory boards, governments, and those who fund them. This book hopes to do more, to build a bridge to the public at a time when there is a great gap between the world of science and the rest of

a pipette in the hand, tinkering with strange machines. This book tries to show that institutes aren't places to be scared of, and that scientists are people with whom you can sit down and have a coffee and a conversation.

Maria Macia’s work is one of the feature stories in the book written by Russ Hodge.

society. This gap is widening at the worst possible moment, a time when research is poised to leap from the lab to the clinic and to have other significant effects on society.

It is not easy to explain fine points of molecular structure or developmental processes, their place in the broader context of science, and their potential impact on human health to non-specialists. But it is worthwhile; these are the people who will eventually benefit from it and may one day vote about how it is regulated. Too often, the media portrays scientists as people who permanently have

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Storytelling can attract people’s attention to topics that they might not otherwise be interested in. That was obvious to the scientists of the 19th century, who inspired young people by writing about science as a great intellectual adventure. In an age of emails and PowerPoint presentations, the aesthetics of writing about it is easily lost. As a result, few people understand that research is a creative process which makes a valuable contribution to culture, not just to the accumulation of facts. Hopefully the community will greet ‘Science Stories’ as a successful contribution to the many ways IRB Barcelona is engaging the public. Ask for a copy at info@irbbarcelona.org.

Russ Hodge

One step further towards gender balance

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RB Barcelona and neighbors IBMB-CSIC

ing difficult and risky decisions to achieve

joined forces on April 6 to hold a one-day

success as an independent researcher in the

event for women in science. ‘Towards gender

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

balance’ brought together speakers from re-

IRB Barcelona Director Joan J. Guinovart

search and science politics to talk about their

then spoke about the role and responsibili-

career paths and their experiences in working

ties that research institutes have in promoting

in different scientific areas.

and supporting their female scientists.

The event, aimed at undergraduate and

The speakers were then joined by IBMB-

postgraduate students and scientists from all

CSIC professor Montserrat Pagès, IRB Bar-

levels, was part of a University Ambassador

celona researcher Sofia Araújo and Commu-

initiative of the SET-Routes programme, a

nications Head Sarah Sherwood, and Philipp

collaboration between the EMBL, EMBO

Gebhardt (SET-Routes) for a round-table dis-

and CERN. Through a series of activities and networks, SET-Routes aims to awaken young girls’ interest in science and to encourage young women graduates to pursue careers in science, engineering and technology.

cussion about what can be done at the personIRB Barcelona female researchers (above) and speakers Flora de Pablo and Montserrat Pagès (below) at the ‘Towards gender balance’ event.

al and institutional level to increase a woman’s chances for a successful career in science.

The lively discussion and debates were

a comprehensive overview of the current

topped off with a reception over fingerfood

Flora de Pablo (Centro de Investigaciones

situation of women scientists in Spain, and

and drinks, providing ample opportunity for

Biológicas, Madrid) started things off with

recounted her own personal history of mak-

further chats and lots of networking.

Helping to break the glass ceiling

Taking science beyond the lab Photo: ©EsConet

ent their work more effectively to professional and lay audiences.

This year IRB Barcelona will have a seat at the second edition of ‘Workshops in Science Communication’, to take place on July 12-28 in Dubrovnik. Sofia Araújo, researcher at IRB Barcelona and

Participants of the first workshop edition during one of the hands-on exercises.

expert in science communication, will be contributing to the event as an EsConet trainer teaching the challenging subject

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f you’re a scientist involved in research

of communicating science to the media

projects funded by the European Com-

and policy makers. “The workshop will

mission and find communicating your sci-

combine lectures with hands-on sessions

ence to the media challenging, you should

to help researchers improve their skills in

think about setting some time aside to par-

writing for the media, performing suc-

ticipate in ‘Workshops in Science Commu-

cessfully on TV and presenting their sci-

nication’, a series run by the European Sci-

entific work in public,” explains Araújo.

ence Communication Network EsConet.

ESConet trainers’ mission is to enable

The first edition of the workshop, held

Europe’s vision for science and society to

from March 28 to April 8, brought together

become a reality by training researchers

dozens of scientists from European research

to better communicate research results

networks. The training program aims to im-

to the media. The team combines media

prove the ability of EC-funded scientists to

experts, policy makers and science pro-

interact with national and international me-

fessionals, and has a solid background in

dia as well as to help them gain skills to pres-

science communication training.

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RB Barcelona released in April ‘Breaking the glass ceiling—proposals to adjust the role of women in science’, a compilation of articles that address the current situation of women working in scientific research. The contributions have been written by four women of great academic standing and with extensive professional experience in scientific institutions in Germany, Belgium, Spain and the US. The booklet also includes forewords written by the minister of Health in Catalonia, Marina Geli, and the minister of Research and Innovation in Spain, Cristina Garmendia. With this publication, IRB Barcelona contributes to stimulate debate and reflexion on the diverse obstacles that women encounter in their climb up the career ladder. Ask for a copy at info@irbbarcelona.org.

April 2009

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in vivo

Issue 06

Out in the snow

Building the path to a biomedical alliance

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he Structural and Computational Biology Programme took off to the snow for their annual retreat on February 26-27.

The hotel Muntanya in La Cerdanya provided an ideal place to disconnect from Barcelona and get down to discussing the future of structural biology. The first day brought about much information exchange through presentations, moments of humour, and a great sense of unity among the groups.

Good spirits continued on the second day, when participants turned their hands to snow sports. The retreat turned out to be a high performance event characterized by strong inter-lab interactions.

A different kind of hike

ancer, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar other biomedical institutes linked to the Unidisorder, Alzheimer’s and multiple scle- versity of Barcelona. The conferences helped rosis were the target of the first two scientific start off an ambitious initiative led by the IIS meetings held on January 22 and March 26-27 Clínic-IDIBAPS to form a biomedical alliance aimed at uniting efforts between IRB Barcelona among scientific instituresearchers and clinical extions in order to estabperts from the Institute for lish a European center of Health Care Research (IIS) The second meeting brought together over reference in biomedical Clínic-IDIBAPS. a hundred experts in neurodegenerative research.

The more than fifty diseases. Photo: IIS Clínic-IDIBAPS talks that ran at the Hilton Hotel in Barcelona served as a platform to stimulate the exchange of scientific knowledge and seed new collaborations between both institutions, the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, and

Disarming malaria

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etting the technical goals to disarm the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum was the challenging focus of the kickoff meeting of the Mephitis project, held at IRB Barcelona on March 30-31.

The working sessions brought together international malaria experts from different fields to explore a promising line of research to find new drugs to fight malaria, an infectious disease that kills more than a million people every year.

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ore than fifty computational biologists from the joint programme between IRB Barcelona and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center held their annual retreat in the snow late in January. After a complicated journey for some, including a delayed train because of unexpected problems on the line, they finally reached Nuria to enjoy presentations of pseudo-scientific projects, as diverse as a lab on the moon to a machine to read your dreams. On the second day they all went snowshoeing and lots of fun was had by all.

Tanya Yates

The year will see two more scientific meetings, one in June on metabolic and liver diseases and another in October on infections, international health research and immunology.

Mephitis, funded by the European Commission and coordinated by IRB Barcelona principal investigator Lluís Ribas de Pouplana, seeks to advance the understanding of protein synthesis in the Plasmodium parasite. “The research strategy we have designed will bring new methods and data that can be added to the fight against malaria,” says Ribas de Pouplana (pictured right).

A new initiative to fight virulent bacteria

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he hundreds of antibiotics available on the market are still insufficient to defeat certain types of resistant bacteria. The Structural Bioinformatics Lab at IRB Barcelona, led by principal investigator Patrick Aloy, started to challenge the virulence of these bacteria in February this year by studying host-pathogen hybrid protein interaction networks to reveal the mechanisms that allow bacteria to survive antibiotic treatments. The group’s efforts are

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part of the new AntiPathoGN project, an FP7 initiative funded by the European Commission with 6 million euros in which IRB Barcelona is taking an active role as one of the partners.

“Finding new anti-infective agents against gram-negative bacteria is crucial because there are no new drugs in developmental stages for the coming years,” says project coordinator Xavier Daura, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. The goal of the AntiPathoGN project is to find new antibiotics against the four most harmful gram-negative bacteria, which tend to attack weak immune systems.

April 2009

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in vivo

Issue 06

From the sidelines

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Organized as a mini-league, the final matches will be knock-out rounds to decide the best (Champions), mediocre (UEFA) and the worst (second Photo: A. Alsina

division) teams. Given its informal nature, the rules of the competition are straightforward and lax. There is no need for a referee and issues that arise in a match are resolved in situ by the players themselves, most of who are male (84%), even though men account for only 45% of the people working at IRB Barcelona. For those interested, you can follow the league on the Intranet, which lists the results of each match and the weekly classification.

After five days of competition, two teams are well ahead of the rest, ‘Brutal DeLuxe’ and ‘Labo Cata’ with four wins. The remaining teams are very much tied and are fighting to climb the classification to get into the final knock-out rounds. There are still a few weeks left to alter the results before the league ends on June 30. Anything could happen.

Dan Maldonado

W

e all know that researchers at IRB

After many weeks of admirable dedica-

Barcelona have many interests out-

tion and commendable discipline, the runners

side the lab. Some of your coworkers may

put on their specially prepared IRB Barcelona

be accomplished artists, musicians, actors.

running shirts and hit the streets for the race.

Athletes are no exception to this, and earlier

Several hours and many, many kilometers

this year word got out that a couple intrepid

later, nearly all runners had crossed the finish

individuals were going to attempt to run the

line – in some cases aided by IRB Barcelona

Barcelona Marathon – a

volunteers who joined

grueling 42.2 kms through

them for the last and

Photo: Javier Llanos

RB Barcelona’s football league kicked off on March 9. Conceived and organized by the Student Council, the league involves ten teams from labs, core facilities and administration.

This initiative aims to increase interaction between the many groups that make up the Institute. Matches are held every Monday and Tuesday in the sports facilities next to IRB Barcelona and this year’s competition will run until June 30.

IRB Barcelona runners hit the streets for the 2009 Barcelona Marathon

the streets of the city. A rapid exchange of emails led to the formation of a small group of runners,

longest kilometers of the race. Though a couple runners were forced to drop out due

which quickly grew to 10

to injury - and some

– we had a team!

bravely continued to

The group met regu-

run while injured - all

larly before the race to

were justifiably sat-

share tips on how to

isfied with their ac-

prepare for a marathon

complishment. And if

and to organize training

healthy pursuits were

sessions. Seasoned mara-

not enough, the team

thoners shared their experience with the other

also used the occasion to do good for others.

runners, most of whom were confronting the

They collected a total of 745 euros for their

challenge for the first time. The months lead-

efforts from colleagues and friends to be do-

ing-up to the race saw the runners steal out of

nated to the charity ‘Médicos Sin Fronteras’.

the labs at lunchtime to squeeze in some extra

Way to go, team!

hours of training. Some even resorted to for-

Sarah Sherwood

going public transport and ran to work.

VIEWPOINT — How did you feel at km 38?

Jascha Blobel

Adelaida Diaz

Ashraf Muhaisen

“Luckily, not only did my legs feel like jello but my brain did, too, which made it impossible for me to conceive that I still had to survive 4 kilometers with my body in a rather miserable state.”

“I felt exhausted, but at the same time I was really happy because at that distance I knew that I was going to finish the marathon. An extraordinary experience that I would repeat!”

“I started running the Barcelona marathon using my legs, and at km 33 using my mind, but when I was at km 38, only I was hearing my heart saying that I can do it.”

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April 2009

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in vivo

Issue 06

FACES TO NAMES Travis Stracker. Principal Investigator, Genomic Instability and Cancer Laboratory, IRB Barcelona

- Did it cross your mind to stay in the US immediately after Barack Obama was elected?

“Not really, I had made up my mind months ago about moving to Barcelona. But I’m really excited about him having stepped into office. He’s going to open many new avenues in scientific research. I’ve been really disappointed about the amount of religious control on science policies during the Bush era.

Religion should never get mixed with politics, it goes against everything the country was founded on. Obama’s recent decision to end the ban on stem cell research will be crucial to make new therapies a reality.”

- How will your research on cancer at IRB Barcelona help unravel the hidden mechanisms of a disease that is projected to become the leading cause of death in 2010?

“One of the lab’s focuses is going to be understanding how the body recognizes and repairs broken DNA. If we can unravel the complex signaling pathways that make cells miss important decisions, we’ll be able to make these cells stay arrested, stop the propagation of damaged DNA and prevent tumors from developing. We’re also going to devote energy to try to find new proteins that are involved in the damage response and have the potential

The big wave Outside the lab, Travis likes to spend part of his free time dressed in a wet suit and challenging the power of the ocean.

He learned to surf a few years ago when he was living in San Diego. There’s one thought he can’t get out of his mind, the day surfers claimed would bring the biggest wave of the year. “After two hours of surfing, a big wave finally hit me and I went straight down. I was under water for an uncomfortably long time. It felt like being in a washing machine. I didn’t quit after that, but I had to lay on the beach for twenty minutes to recover,” he recalls.

S.

ANNA ALSINA

Photo:

American scientist Travis Stracker is not afraid of big life changes. He decided to move on from his previous job at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York to set up the new Genomic Instability and Cancer Laboratory at IRB Barcelona where he started his research activities in March. He will devote his time to finding new clues to improve chemotherapy treatments for patients and furthering his research in the maintenance of genome stability and tumor suppression.

Photo: S. Sherwood

“Obama’s decision to end the ban on stem cell research will be crucial to make new therapies a reality”

Travis Stracker joined IRB Barcelona in March 2009.

but it’s an isolated process. When cells are exposed to radiation in a dish they all sort of behave the same way and miss all the crucial reactions of the organism. The mouse gives you that environment, which is extremely important because it determines the way a tumor will grow.”

- How can science explain tumor regression such as the one the cycling champion Lance Armstrong went through?

“I don’t overstate the role the mind plays. I couldn’t give you a biological explanation for Armstrong’s case, but I think the mind always plays an important role in maintaining your health. When you start getting depressed and worrying too much you overstress your immune system. There are many cases of people who have survived cancers that others haven’t.

Part of that is personal genetics.”

to suppress tumors. If we succeed, this would - Every cancer is different ... open new research paths to improve chemo“There’s no one solution and every person is therapy, cancer treatments and provide new genetically different. The more we learn about targets for potential drug combinations.” the genetics, the more we can apply that to de- Why is the mouse a good model for cancer veloping customized treatments that are suitresearch? able for a certain person’s genome. The good “For many reasons. Mice develop tumors that news is that it’s getting cheaper and cheaper to can be very similar to human ones. It’s the do this large-scale sequencing of the genome. best genetically manipulable complex system I’m excited about the potential for more taithat we have nowadays. Growing tumors in lor-made medicines that will adapt to each a dish instead of in a mouse is much easier, person’s genetic information.”

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April 2009

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in vivo

Issue 06

IN BRIEF

NEWS FROM THE PARK

A nudge toward science A group of students from the city’s nearby German School visited IRB Barcelona on January 29, as part of an orientation session aimed to help them choose their future career paths. The students’ visit started at the Functional Genomics Core Facility, where they got insight into the workings of the facility from its manager Herbert Auer, and finished at the ‘Design, Synthesis and Structure of Peptides and Proteins’ Lab, where PhD student Michael Goldflam walked them through the lab routines and challenges scientists face.

Sant Jordi’s Day, Darwin and BookCrossing On April 23 the Barcelona Science Park invites everyone to read and trade books

G

ood ideas are always well received.

Science Park wishes to take advantage of

This is particularly true when the

the traditional Sant Jordi festival, held in

initiatives arise spontaneously, are directed

Catalonia on April 23, to set up areas de-

to everyone, and aren’t about money. Ex-

voted to reading and free book trading.

amples of these ideas abound; however, the

Everyone is welcome to participate in this

Time Bank and BookCrossing are among

initiative. First, you are invited to take part

those social initiatives that have been most

in the narration of the first Catalan edition

successful. Both ideas are based on bar-

of the autobiography of Charles Darwin,

tering or trading—an agreement of free

a book which belongs to the collection of

Two awards in four months

exchange between two or more individu-

monographs of the journal ‘Mètode’. The

als that benefits all. The Time Bank offers

narration will be held from 10am to 6pm

The work carried out on cancer research by IRB Barcelona adjunct director Joan Massagué has once again been acknowledged in 2009.

Granted the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award on January 27 for his breakthrough studies in cancer and metastasis, Massagué also received on April 20 the Clowes Award, given by the American Association for Cancer Research to scientists with outstanding accomplishments in basic cancer research.

the possibility to give

in the Fèlix Serratosa

and receive services

Room at the Park and

in exchange for their

will be recorded and

value in time, in oth-

broadcast live on the

er words, the time

Park’s website. The

that people invest

first 50 people who

in performing these

sign up for this ac-

tasks. BookCross-

tivity will receive

ing is an initiative

a free copy of the

that allows you

autobiography.

A chocolate experience Mixing science with mugs of hot chocolate has proven to be a good meeting strategy to bring individual group leaders and core facility managers closer to senior management at IRB Barcelona. The objective of this recent initiative is to give researchers a chance to provide input, discuss their future plans and help outline the Institute’s strategy for the next five years.

to read books at

The second

no cost –as they

part involves a

do not belong

book stall that

to anyone–, on

will be placed

condition that you give the book to others

in the entrance of the Cluster Building

when you have finished so that they can do

(Baldiri Reixac, 10) where you will be able

the same. The only requirement is to no-

to trade in one book for another. Partici-

tify your book finding on the web (www.

pants will receive a bookmark, which will

bookcrossing.com), which now registers

serve as a trading proof. The book stall will

thousands of books worldwide (more than

be open from 9h to 18h.

five million!).

Through these two initiatives, the Barce-

Keeping with this spirit of free ex-

lona Science Park wishes to promote inno-

change and bearing in mind that this

vation in all its activities. We hope you will

year marks 200 years since the birth of

support us in our endeavour. Get trading and

Charles Darwin and 150 years since the

have a great Sant Jordi’s day!

publication of his most famous book ‘The Origin of Species’, the Barcelona

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Carme Pérez, PCB

April 2009

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in vivo

Issue 06

SPOTLIGHT

NEW AT IRB BARCELONA

Getting foreign talent on video tape

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hD student Valerie Crowley says she was a bit nervous when the filming team from Barcelona Activa came to IRB Barcelona to video tape her on February 11. Her contribution will be part of a promotional documentary about entrepreneurship and talent in Barcelona that will include interviews with artists, scientists, graphic designers and architects, among others. The video will be released in the near future by the City Council’s local development agency.

- Was the video interview challenging?

“Actually, it was. I’m not used to being in front of a camera nor using plain words to explain my scientific work. Simplifying your research for non-scientists is pretty challenging. At some point they had to repeat the same take Photo: A. Alsina Valerie’s work on malaria involves doing chromatin immunoprecipitations to look at the histone modifications associated with the silencing of genes during the invasion of Plasmodium falciparum.

several times! The interview went on for about an hour. They wanted to know why I moved from Canada to Barcelona, what my science background was and the details of my research on the malaria parasite.”

- One of the reasons why they chose you was your innovative work on malaria.

“We’re working on trying to find new clues to prevent invasion. The malaria parasite is very good at evading the body’s immune system. If we can provide new insight on how to stop the invasion of the parasite, we’ll have found a way to prevent the disease.”

Chemist Carme Fàbrega (Spain, 1968) has left behind her more than six years of work at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center-CNIO in Madrid to take up a new position as research associate at the ‘Nucleic Acid Chemistry’ Lab at IRB Barcelona. Carme will be working with Ramon Eritja’s team of researchers to find inhibitors against the proteins that mediate resistance to chemotherapy. After more than twelve years abroad, she says she’s looking forward to settling down in her hometown again. Carme has worked in institutions such as the Scripps Research Institute in California and the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.

Jorge Domínguez (Venezuela, 1963) likes to explore new avenues within IRB Barcelona. He has given up his lab coat and responsibilities as research associate to jump into the world of management as head of Innovation and Strategic Projects, a newly created department aimed to boost the transfer of research results. A molecular and cell biology expert, he will focus his work on developing internal policies, promoting partnerships and strategic alliances with the health care industry, as well as identifying and protecting research results that are potentially transferable.

Peter Jung (Germany, 1978) has recently joined the Colorectal Cancer Laboratory I as a postdoctoral researcher. He’ll devote his efforts to intestinal stem cell research with the aim to find new clues to cure colon cancer. His most immediate challenge is switching from his experience working in vitro to learning new methods with animal models. He says his move from Germany to Barcelona was at first challenging but he received lots of support from his new lab colleagues. “They even offered me a place to stay until I found my own!”

ON THE MOVE Research associate Xavier de la Cruz (Spain, 1958) is leaving IRB Barcelona but he won’t have to deal with the hurdles of moving far away. He has accepted a promotion to work as a principal investigator at the Institute for Molecular Biology of Barcelona (IBMB-CSIC), where he will continue to do research in the field of structural biology. He says he’s leaving many good friends and colleagues and that he’ll miss the work environment at IRB Barcelona. He plans to keep in touch professionally through new scientific collaborations in the near future.

José Antonio del Río (Spain, 1964) recently passed the critical eye of an international panel of experts to become a new group leader at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). A research associate in neurobiotechnology at IRB Barcelona for more than six years, he will now be faced for the first time with the challenge of setting up and running his own lab on Molecular and Cellular Neurobiotechnology. He can’t wait to start recruiting new lab members.

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: Russ Hodge, Tanya Yates, Dan Maldonado, Carme Pérez. Design: Aymerich Comunicació. Printing: La Trama. Legal deposit: B-30893-2009. © IRB Barcelona

www.irbbarcelona.org