Tarragona, 5 November 2024. The Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) will offer a pre-doctoral contract to promote breast cancer research thanks to the funds raised at the Mamapop solidarity concert held in Tarragona just a year ago. This pre-doctoral contract, thanks to the collaboration between the IISPV and Mamapop to promote breast cancer research, will give a junior researcher the opportunity to start his or her scientific career in this field while pursuing a PhD. This degree is the highest degree in the educational system, which culminates after completing original research of excellence in a specific area, presenting and defending a thesis before an academic tribunal.
Through competitive concurrence, the pre-doctoral contract has been awarded to Noelia Peláez Poblet, a graduate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Rovira i Virgili University, and with a master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Zaragoza. Through her research, she will explore new connections between obesity and breast cancer, one of the types of cancer most strongly associated with obesity, especially in post-menopausal women. This project will investigate the role of certain oncometabolites, molecules that under normal conditions are part of normal metabolic processes, but which under certain circumstances can favour the uncontrolled proliferation of tumour cells. The aim is to understand how these metabolites contribute to tumour development and progression in obese people. The results could open up new therapeutic avenues and strategies to address the increasing incidence of breast cancer in this population, where obesity is associated with a worse prognosis and a higher risk of recurrence.
Dr Sonia Fernández-Veledo, head of the Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases Research Group and director of the thesis, says: ‘Our group has been investigating for years how obesity and metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, contribute to the development of certain tumours. This is a unique opportunity to focus our studies on breast cancer. It is an honour, but also a great responsibility to accept this type of support, as it is the result of society’s trust and commitment to scientific research.
For his part, the director of the IISPV, Dr. Joan Vendrell, emphasises: ‘The IISPV focuses its research on four main areas, and oncology is a fundamental one. The research groups in this area are multidisciplinary, united by a common goal: to better understand cancer in order to offer more effective solutions to patients. The complexity of this disease makes collaboration with other areas essential, especially metabolism, as the connections between metabolism and cancer can make the difference in prevention, diagnosis and treatment. This joint work allows us to approach the fight against cancer from a more humane and holistic perspective, with the hope of offering better results for society.
The promoter and artistic director of Mamapop, Manel Simon, said that ‘it is a source of pride to see how all the effort and support around Mamapop materialises in a tangible research project, which will add knowledge and prevention for the benefit of all’.
Mamapop will celebrate ten years since its foundation in 2024 and will premiere the new show ‘Generación Movida’ in Tarragona on Saturday 16th November at the Palacio Ferial y de Congresos. The show will be a journey through the great pop-rock songs of the eighties and nineties with versions of Alaska y Dinarama, Loquillo y los Trogloditas, Hombres G, La Guardia, Duncan Dhu, Los Secretos, Mecano, Tino Casal, Sau, Sopa de Cabra and Els Pets. Mamapop maintains its collaboration with the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute and, once again, will donate the profits from the concert on 16 November.
Mamapop Tarragona is supported by Fundación Repsol, Factor Energía, the Port of Tarragona, Tarragona City Council and Tarragona Provincial Council. Tickets can be purchased at www.mamapop.cat and at the physical point of sale FarmaTarraco (C/ de Pere Martell, 5).
About Mamapop
The Mamapop solidarity concert was born in Lleida in November 2014 with the aim of raising funds for scientific research on breast cancer. In Lleida, Mamapop donates its profits to the Institute for Biomedical Research of Lleida, becoming the first source of private funding for breast cancer research at IRBLleida with €232,800. In the counties of Tarragona, it collaborates with the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) in the same line, and so far the contribution has been €23,699. Different companies and individuals have been actively collaborating with Mamapop since its launch, including the support of Fundación Repsol and Factor Energía and, especially, that of anonymous people committed to the dissemination and promotion of the project, as well as ambassadors such as Luis del Olmo, Roser Capdevila, Ruben Viñuales, Xavier Graset, the ambassador of honour Helena Rakosnik, the singer Lorena Gómez from Lleida and Mariona Escoda from Valladolid, among others.
About IISPV
The Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) integrates biomedical research led from the Camp de Tarragona and Terres de l’Ebre regions. It is the instrument with which the university hospitals of both health regions (the Joan XXIII University Hospital in Tarragona, the Verge de la Cinta Hospital in Tortosa, the Sant Joan University Hospital in Reus and the Pere Mata Institute University Hospital in Reus) and the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) have been equipped to bring together and manage biomedical research and innovation in the region.
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