The Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), as a funding agency under the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, has concluded its annual grant allocation process within the framework of the Acción Estratégica en Salud 2024 (AES 2024). The total investment for 2024 amounts to €296 million, marking a 12% increase compared to 2023, reinforcing this initiative as one of the main sources of health research funding in Spain.

The AES 2024 grants have been distributed across 20 calls, aiming to foster biomedical and health research, promote science aligned with societal needs and committed to equitable access to resources, as well as to strengthen territorial cohesion and the structuring of R&D&I in health.

The Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), accredited as an Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IIS) -Health Research Institute- by ISCIII, coordinates research management and scientific strategy within the Can Ruti Campus ecosystem, working closely with the other institutions from the IIS. In this context, and as part of AES 2024, the IIS IGTP has secured a total of €6,518,867 for various research projects and researcher contracts.

This achievement reaffirms the excellence of the translational research conducted at the Can Ruti Campus and IGTP, which currently manages over 300 active projects, both national and international, aimed at tackling health challenges and improving people's quality of life.

R&D&I projects in health

The IIS IGTP has received funding for 18 projects in this call, with a total of nearly €3 million.

• PI24/00012: Therapy with auristatin nanoconjugates targeting leukaemic stem cells for the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia: evaluation of new synergistic combinations
  Principal Investigator (PI): Isolda Casanova Rigat
  Institution: Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC)
  Grant awarded: €172,500
• PI24/00241: Platelets as therapeutic targets for dementia with Lewy bodies
  PI: Katrin Beyer
  Institution: IGTP - Genomics and Transcriptomics of Synucleinopathies (GTS)
  Grant awarded: €183,750
• PI24/00571: Characterisation of the immune tumour microenvironment in advanced hormone-sensitive HER2-negative breast cancer: towards the identification of immune biomarkers determining therapeutic efficacy
  PIs: Ester Ballana Guix / Mireia Margelí Vila
  Institution: Institut Català d'Oncologia (ICO)
  Grant awarded: €165,000
• PI24/00615: Extracellular vesicles in renal innovation: modelling, biomarkers, and MSC-EV therapy for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis - EV-FSGS Project
  PI: Marcel·la Franquesa Bartolomé
  Institution: IGTP - Innovation in Vesicles and Cells for Application in Therapy (IVECAT)
  Grant awarded: €190,000
• PI24/00636: Impact of tumour heterogeneity on resistance to (chemo)immunotherapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: relevance of the STAT3 pathway
  PIs: Eva Riveira Muñoz / Ricard Mesia Nin
  Institution: ICO
  Grant awarded: €127,500
• PI24/00660: Human pharmacology, abuse potential, and neuronal connectivity evaluation of hexahydrocannabinol compared to tetrahydrocannabinol
  PI: Esther Papaseit Fontanet
  Institution: Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital (HUGTiP)
  Grant awarded: €115,000
• PI24/00695: ImmunoLung: Genetic and molecular characterisation of immune response and immune evasion mechanisms in lung cancer
  PI: Maria Saigí Morgí
  Institution: ICO
  Grant awarded: €127,500
• PI24/00763: Novel and innovative therapeutic strategies for paediatric B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia patients with MLL gene rearrangement
  PI: Clara Bueno Uroz
  Institution: IJC
  Grant awarded: €208,750
• PI24/00834: Human pharmacology, brain connectivity, and abuse potential following acute administration of a new synthetic cathinone
  PI: Clara Perez Maña
  Institution: HUGTiP
  Grant awarded: €171,250
• PI24/00844
  PI: Nuria Mulet Magalef
  Institution: HUGTiP/IGTP - Badalona Applied Research Group in Oncology (B·ARGO)
  Grant awarded: €140,000
• PI24/00963: Enhancing post-stroke recovery with hydroxytyrosol nutraceuticals in "humanised" porcine stroke models: multi-omics, neuroimaging, and functional study
  PI: Teresa Gasull Dalmau
  Institution: IGTP - Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (CMN)
  Grant awarded: €227,500
• PI24/01175: Study of the clinical, genetic, and pathophysiological bases of hereditary ataxias: identification of a new spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA52)
  PI: Antoni Matilla Dueñas
  Institution: IGTP - Neurogenetics Research Unit
  Grant awarded: €121,250
• PI24/01595: Gut bacterial microbiota and invasive enterococcal disease: prospective case-control study and evaluation of probiotic prophylaxis in animal models
  PI: Pere-Joan Cardona Iglesias
  Institution: HUGTiP/IGTP - Clinical and Experimental Microbiology Unit (UMCiE)
  Grant awarded: €190,000
• PI24/01730: Role of JAK/STAT inhibitors in reversing T-cell mediated cytotoxicity resistance in the HIV reservoir
  PI: José Moltó Marhuenda
  Institution: Fundació Lluita contra les Infeccions
  Grant awarded: €150,000
• PI24/01851: Development of resistance to T-cell mediated cytotoxicity in the HIV reservoir: identifying new targets to improve immunotherapies for functional HIV cure (CTL-Resistance)
  PI: Beatriz Mothe Pujadas
  Institution: IrsiCaixa
  Grant awarded: €152,500
• PI24/01916: Development of predictive biomarkers of resistance to PARP inhibitors (iPARP) in ovarian cancer
  PI: Margarita Romeo Marin
  Institution: ICO
  Grant awarded: €113,750

Research projects on rare diseases

The Badalona Neuromuscular Research Group (GRENBA) at IGTP has secured over €3.5 million to establish a national network dedicated to addressing the challenges of myotonic dystrophy type 1.

• PMPER24/00007: Creation of a comprehensive hub for Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 in Spain: clinical registry, genomic, epigenomic, and proteomic mapping (DM1-Hub)
  PI: Gisela Nogales Gadea
  Institution: IGTP - GRENBA
  Grant awarded: €3,547,417

More information about the project can be found in this news article.

Predoctoral research training contracts in health (PFIS)

Two PhD training contracts have been awarded to doctoral students who will conduct their research at the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital and Research Institute.

• FI24/00119
  Candidate: Iratxe Eskubi Turro
  PI: Jordi Tarascó Palomares
  Institution: HUGTiP
  Grant awarded: €89,900
• FI24/00254
  Candidate: David Panisello Yagüe
  PI: Elisa Martró Català
  Institution: IGTP - Pathogen Diagnostics and Genomic Epidemiology (DxEpiPath)
  Grant awarded: €89,900

Río Hortega contracts

A Río Hortega contract has been awarded to a researcher at IGTP, enabling her to combine health sciences research with clinical activity.

• CM24/00107
  Candidate: Anna Revert Barbera
  PI: Gisela Nogales Gadea
  Institution: IGTP - GRENBA
  Grant awarded: €42,400

Miguel Servet contracts

A researcher at IJC has been awarded a Miguel Servet contract, providing a stable research position.

• CP24/00054
  Candidate: Gerardo Ferrer Aguilar
  Institution: IJC
  Grant awarded: €40,500