The future of Alzheimer's research meets at La Pedrera
Casa Milà - La Pedrera, headquarters of the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera, is hosting today, Thursday 21 May, the first HUB Alzheimer Barcelona Early-Career Symposium “Rising Talent for a World without Alzheimer’s”, a scientific conference that brings together researchers in the early stages of their professional careers, who work in the field of Alzheimer’s and other dementias, with the aim of promoting collaboration, knowledge exchange and professional development in this field.
Mercè Boada, founder and medical director of the Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona Foundation and patron of the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera, inaugurated the HUB in an institutional welcome shared with Glòria Oliver, also patron of the Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation and deputy general director of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, in front of the attendees gathered in the Auditorium of La Pedrera.
During her speech, Glòria Oliver highlighted the importance of connecting research with social impact and improving people’s quality of life. He also highlighted the Foundation's commitment to people with Alzheimer's and their families, whom it has been accompanying and supporting for 13 years.
In this sense, he highlighted the work of the Memory Enhancement program, developed by the Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation and aimed at people with mild and moderate cognitive impairment. The program aims to maintain cognitive abilities, strengthen personal autonomy and promote emotional well-being, as well as accompanying their families. It also offers a supportive environment where people can stay active and share experiences. He also highlighted that the Foundation works from a person-centered perspective, promoting a model that defends dignified aging that is respectful of each individual's life path.
Organized within the framework of the HUB Alzheimer Barcelona network, an initiative that brings together leading institutions such as Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona, Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center, Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Hospital del Mar and Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, brings together up to 150 participants in a day that combines short research presentations, thematic scientific sessions, inspiring talks and training activities in key skills such as scientific communication or research career development.
Among the prominent participants are leading researchers such as Dr. Alberto Lleó (Hospital de Sant Pau), who gives the inaugural conference, as well as experts such as Dr. Neus Falgàs (Hospital Clínic de Barcelona), Dr. Carla Abdelnour (Sant Pau), Dr. Antoni Palasí (Vall d’Hebron) and Dr. Salvador Macip (Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center), among others.
As part of the meeting, the first collaborative predoctoral grants promoted by the HUB Alzheimer Barcelona were awarded, by Josep Maria Argimon, Director of Relations with the Health System at the Pasqual Maragall Foundation. With the impetus of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation and the support of the Barcelona City Council, this program finances three doctoral theses developed jointly by at least two of the HUB institutions and co-directed by a researcher from each of them, with the aim of promoting excellent clinical research, the sharing of resources between different centers and multidisciplinary and inter-institutional scientific training.
The program also includes networking spaces and a visual exhibition on Alzheimer's research, with the aim of generating new synergies between institutions and disciplines and strengthening this research ecosystem in Barcelona.
Research, innovation and social impact
The conference also focuses on the current challenges of Alzheimer's research, including areas such as biomarkers, artificial intelligence, public health and social interventions, as well as the need to transfer scientific knowledge to practice and society.
At the end of the conference, Marta Torras, director of Dignified Aging at the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera, will present a special award to the project with the greatest social impact, and Arcadi Navarro, director of the Fundació Pasqual Maragall, will close the event.
With this initiative, La Pedrera consolidates itself as a reference space for scientific and social debate around Alzheimer's, helping to connect research with the real impact on people's lives.
About the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera
The Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera is a private and independent entity that works to improve people's quality of life and promote a fairer and more inclusive society. It develops programs in the social, educational, cultural, scientific and environmental fields, with an innovative and people-centered perspective.