The intervention will take place on June 4 at 7.30 p.m. at Pavelló dels Distingits of the Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata and can also be followed online.
The Filial de Reus de l’Acadèmia de Ciències Mèdiques de Catalunya i Balears organizes, for next Wednesday June 4 at 19.30 pm in the Pavelló dels Distingits of the Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, a talk entitled Eating disorders and addictive behaviors, which will be given by Dr. Fernando Fernandez Aranda, head of section and director of the Unitat de Trastorns Alimentaris i Servei de Psicologia of the Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge IDIBELL, also professor at the Universitat de Barcelona, Fernando Fernández Aranda. He is also in ICREA Acadèmia and deputy director of CIBERobn.
The intervention can also be followed online (link also available in the QR code on the informative poster). The activity is supported by HU Institut Pere Mata, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili and Hospital Universitari Sant Joaan de Reus i Baix Camp.
ICS and AQuAS organize a session on June 2 to prepare candidates for the research career awards with innovative tools for personal presentation.
The Institut Català de la Salut (ICS) and the Agència de Qualitat i Avaluació Sanitàries de Catalunya (AQuAS) are organizing a training session on narrative CVs, to be held next Monday, June 2, from 3 to 5 pm, in which attendees will become familiar with what a narrative CV is and the main differences with the traditional one, being able to analyze experiences of using the narrative CV in different evaluation processes and develop the necessary skills to write the CV in a narrative way.
The training is mainly aimed at those people who want to apply for the Premis a la Trajectòria Investigadora, which rewards those who have contributed to the development of ICS research. Registration is now open, with a form to fill in, and places are limited.
The AQuAS Research team has prepared an infographic on how to write a health impact narrative, with the basic information to prepare the application for the Research Career Achievement Awards.
For two days, international experts have analyzed the comprehensive capacity of the center to achieve European standard
A team of six auditors from the Organization of European cancer Institutes (OECI) and the coordinator of the OECI program of our center have carried out the face-to-face audit of the accreditation process of the Sant Joan University Hospital in Reus and the IISPV to be recognized as a European Cancer Center. For two days, Thursday, 15 and Friday, May 16, external auditors of different nationalities and professional profiles have participated in an exhaustive program of presentations, interviews and visits aimed at specific teams and people throughout the center. Once the evaluation was completed, Brend Kremer, responsible for the audit team, presented the preliminary results and noted the strengths of the institution as well as the opportunities for improvement, and announced that the most exhaustive report of the process would be known in October. El Kremer also thanked the good reception that the entire team of auditors had received, as well as the involvement of all the professionals who have participated in this process, which addresses aspects such as attendance, research, teaching, innovation or training.
Two years of work
The different work teams of the Hospital management, together with teams from the Institute of Oncology of Southern Catalonia (IOCS) and the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute, have been working for two years in a previous phase of documentation collection, which has allowed to pass the first stage of accreditation, which is focused on self-evaluation. Subsequently, the second stage of accreditation began, which has culminated in face-to-face auditing.
However, this is not yet the final point, but involves designing an improvement plan in which the Hospital has already begun to work and which must be drafted in December 2025. From then on, with all the information received and what is required of us, the highest-ranking accreditation and designation committee of the ICAO will give the final report in February 2026. One year after obtaining the certificate, the center must submit a written report with the progress of the objectives, actions and the schedule established in the improvement plan. It is not until after five years that a reaccreditation takes place.
The OECI is the most prestigious organisation that carries out this accreditation and is currently made up of more than 100 centres throughout Europe.
Scientists from around the world will gather to discuss the liver sinusoid, a specialized type of blood capillary found in the liver, and its role in ageing, regeneration, and disease
From May 23 to 26, 2026, Tarragona will welcome researchers and professionals specializing in liver sinusoidal biology. Under the theme of understanding the crucial role of the liver sinusoid in hepatic function, disease progression, ageing, and tissue regeneration, The Liver Sinusoid Meeting 2026 will mark the 23rd edition of this prestigious event. It will also coincide with the 50th anniversary of its organizing body, the International Society for Hepatic Sinusoidal Research (ISHSR). This scientific meeting aims to explore the complexity of liver microcirculation, immune regulation, and cellular interactions within the sinusoidal space. The program will highlight the latest advances in sinusoidal endothelial cell biology, liver immunology, fibrosis, and innovative therapeutic approaches.
Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from a distinguished group of international experts who will lead discussions on current challenges and future directions in liver sinusoid research. In addition to scientific sessions, the congress will feature a cultural program, including guided tours of Tarragona’s Roman heritage sites.
Registration and Abstract Submission
The Liver Sinusoid Meeting 2026 opens its registration period from October 1 to December 31, both days this year 2025. The congress is also open to a call for research and there is time to present it until December 31, 2025.
Among those present in the organizational committee, is the head of the area of Metabolic Diseases and Nutrition of Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Sonia Fernández-Veledo, also responsible for the research group in ‘Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases’ (DIAMET).
The scientific meeting receives the institutional support of: Departament de Recerca i Universitats de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Patronat Municipal de Turisme de Tarragona, Ajuntament de Tarragona, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en el Área de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas and Instituto de Salud Carlos III.
The Translational Research Laboratory in Cardiology has been officially inaugurated. It will be dedicated to conducting research projects focused on antithrombotic therapies for atherothrombotic cardiovascular diseases under the framework of the IISPV
In the province of Tarragona alone, thousands of patients receive antiplatelet therapy each year due to having suffered a cardiovascular atherothrombotic event, such as a myocardial infarction. An important consideration is that not all patients respond equally to these medications — especially P2Y12 receptor inhibitors. Patients who show a diminished response to the drug are at higher risk of experiencing further ischemic events (e.g., heart attacks or strokes), while those with an exaggerated response face an increased risk of bleeding complications. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct research in this area to enable truly personalized therapy, in which the most appropriate drugs, doses, and combinations are selected for each individual patient.
From this perspective, the Cardiology Department of Joan XXIII Hospital has launched the Translational Research Laboratory in Cardiology with the initial aim of investigating antithrombotic treatments for cardiovascular atherothrombotic diseases. Work is already underway to progressively incorporate new research lines focused on various cardiovascular pathologies from a translational approach — that is, research aimed at evaluating how laboratory advances can be applied in clinical practice. The laboratory, currently located in the Biobank area, will be able to perform a range of platelet function tests, which can be complemented by the analysis of genetic polymorphisms. This combination will help assess how patients respond to antithrombotic drugs and support the development of new treatment strategies. This initiative highlights the hospital’s commitment to promoting research, particularly in the field of precision medicine, which seeks to provide more personalized patient care.
As an example of the potential of this research line, it is worth noting that José Luis Ferreiro, Head of the Cardiology Department at the hospital, is one of the authors of a consensus document recently published in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions — one of the most prestigious journals in the field of cardiology. The document focuses specifically on the standardization and interpretation of antiplatelet drug response, and outlines its main clinical indications for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. His participation in this document reflects his recognition as an international expert in the field.
The study includes a series of analyses of 483 liver samples and 169 serum and plasma samples
A study addresses the search for new non-invasive biomarkers to detect and monitor advanced-stage fatty liver disease, also known as MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis), one of the most concerning forms of metabolic dysfunction-associated liver disease. The study, titled Uncovering hepatic transcriptomic and circulating proteomic signatures in MASH: A meta-analysis and machine learning-based biomarker discovery, was led by the Study Group on Metabolic Diseases Associated with Insulin-Resistance (GEMMAIR, for its acronyms in catalan), under the direction of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), with the participation of the Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), and Teresa Auguet, Head of the Internal Medicine Service at the Hospital Universitari Joan XXIII and Associate Professor at URV. Published recently in Computers in Biology and Medicine, this project represents a step forward for precision medicine applied to metabolic liver diseases. By analyzing liver-specific data and circulating samples, researchers have identified distinctive features that can differentiate patients with MASH. In its severe stages, MASH can progress to more serious complications such as liver cirrhosis. Moreover, studies on liver samples may help identify potential therapeutic targets.
It should be noted that patients can suffer from fatty liver disease without being aware of it, since the symptoms at an early stage are minor or non-existent. For this reason, the research group with the study emphasizes the importance of improved detection.
Regarding the method employed in the work, a series of data was systematically reviewed and seven studies were retrieved, reaching 483 liver samples and 169 serum and plasma samples, respectively. In addition, the development of the project was managed through a machine learning model, which allows the identification of disease-specific biomarkers, using biologically significant protein ratios.
Potential tool for diagnosis This Machine Learning model has become a potential tool for the diagnosis of MASH stage disease. Further refinement and validation is still needed with larger samples to generalize these results. This approach may have a great impact on the clinical approach to MASH, thus benefiting a more careful stratification of the total number of patients seen, avoiding liver biopsies. It may even facilitate a personalized treatment approach, since the study of liver samples can help to identify possible therapeutic targets. With the project, the research group wants to pave the way for further research with more extensive data.
Bibliographic reference: Elena Cristina Rusu, Helena Clavero-Mestres, Mario Sánchez-Álvarez, Marina Veciana-Molins, Laia Bertran, Pablo Monfort-Lanzas, Carmen Aguilar, Javier Camaron, Teresa Auguet. Uncovering hepatic transcriptomic and circulating proteomic signatures in MASH: A meta-analysis and machine learning-based biomarker discovery, Computers in Biology and Medicine. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compbiomed.2025.110170.
The unit’s objective is to provide an in-depth understanding of flow cytometry
The Cytometry Platform of the Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV) continues to advance the understanding of flow cytometry through training sessions for students. Recently, the unit organized and conducted two courses for students from Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and the Institut Cal·lípolis of Tarragona. In the first case, it was the third edition of the Basic Course in Flow Cytometry, aimed at students from the Degree in Biotechnology, the Degree in Computer Engineering and Biotechnology, and the Double Degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at URV.
The students received both theoretical and practical training during their visit to the Cytometry Unit, where they observed the processing of peripheral blood samples. They were able to distinguish cell populations based on size, complexity, and the use of different light-reactive chemical compounds (fluorochromes).
As for the second group of students, who are pursuing a Higher Degree in Clinical and Biomedical Laboratory Studies at the Cal·lípolis Institute, they attended the fifth edition of the Basic Course in Flow Cytometry. The aim of the training was to strengthen the connection between students in the health sciences field and the IISPV. The course consisted of a theoretical and practical session, which also included the analysis of a peripheral blood sample.
The students thus had the opportunity to participate in a training session where they became familiar with the basic concepts of the technique while observing the live processing of a peripheral blood sample labeled with fluorochromes.
These are the results of a study by URV-IISPV after following 6,000 adults with metabolic syndrome for two years
Overweight and obesity have become a public health problem affecting more than 2.5 billion adults. Various studies have worked with the hypothesis that repeatedly consuming foods known as high glycemic index – which rapidly raise blood sugar levels after ingestion – could contribute to the development of obesity and, in the long term, diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Now, a research team from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and the Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV) has demonstrated that the consumption of pasta improves metabolic risk factors compared to potatoes, bread, or refined rice.
Breakfast cereals, sugary drinks, bread, refined rice, and potatoes, among others, are foods rich in rapidly absorbed carbohydrates. They cause a sudden increase in blood glucose and insulin levels, which stimulates appetite, fat storage, and reduces energy expenditure. This promotes obesity and hinders the use of glucose at the cellular level. Pasta, on the other hand, although also rich in carbohydrates, has a unique structure that causes these carbohydrates to be absorbed more slowly, resulting in a moderate glycemic response. When pasta is cooked to the “al dente” stage, the glycemic index is even lower, which would prevent this exaggerated glycemic response after consumption.
In the absence of rigorous studies evaluating the importance of pasta consumption on cardiovascular risk or weight gain, the research team evaluated 6,000 people at high risk of cardiovascular disease who were included in a weight loss program. They followed them over time to see if there was a relationship between refined pasta consumption and various cardiometabolic risk factors. They observed that those who consumed pasta more frequently had a greater reduction in body weight, as well as body mass index and waist circumference after two years of study. Additionally, replacing white bread, white rice, or potatoes with equivalent portions of pasta was associated with a greater reduction in the same parameters and an improvement in blood pressure and HDL cholesterol.
The study focused on older adults with cardiometabolic risk from the Mediterranean basin. Now, randomized clinical trials will be needed to verify if the results are the same in other populations.
The work is part of the multicollaborative PREDIMED-Plus study, involving 23 research institutions from Spain. The research was conducted by Sangeetha Shyam, Miguel Servet researcher at the Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Stephanie K. Nishi, researcher at the School of Nutrition at the Metropolitan University of Toronto, and Jordi Salas-Salvadó, professor and director of the Human Nutrition Unit at URV. The team is part of the Biomedical Research Networking Center for the Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn) and IISPV.
Bibliographic reference: Shyam S, Nishi SK, Ni J, Martínez-González MÁ, Corella D, Schröder H, Martínez JA, Alonso-Gómez ÁM, Wärnberg J, Vioque J, Romaguera D, López-Miranda J, Estruch R, Tinahones FJ, Lapetra J, Serra-Majem L, Bueno-Cavanillas A, Tur JA, Martín Sánchez V, PintóX, Delgado-Rodríguez M, Matía-Martín P, Vidal J, Vázquez C, Daimiel L, Ros E, Gaforio JJ, Ruiz-Canela M, Fernández-Carrión R, Goday A, Garcia-Rios A, Torres-Collado L, Cueto-Galán R, Zulet MA, Prohens L, Casas R, Castillo-Hermoso MA, Tojal-Sierra L, Am GP, García-Arellano A, Sorlí JV, Castañer O, Arenas-Larriva AP, Oncina-Cánovas A, Goñi L, Fitó M, Babio N, Salas-Salvadó J. Pasta Consumption and Cardiometabolic Risks in Older Adults with Overweight/Obesity: A Longitudinal Analysis. J Am Nutr Assoc. 2025 Feb 19:1-13. DOI: 10.1080/27697061.2025.2463454.
The study, with the participation of Joan XXIII University Hospital and CIBER, analyzes 103 patients and highlights the relationship between hypertension and unfavorable disease progression
A study by the Infection and Immunity Research Group (INIM) of the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) has highlighted the relationship between hypertension, the most common pre-existing condition among COVID-19 patients, and a more severe progression of the disease, with a significant risk of hospitalization and death. The research team, led by Anna Rull and Joaquim Peraire, doctors at IISPV and the Joan XXIII University Hospital in Tarragona, and professors at the Rovira i Virgili University (URV), compared the molecules present in the bloodstream of hypertensive and non-hypertensive patients who experienced unfavorable progression of COVID-19.
For the study, samples from 103 patients were analyzed, including 63 who experienced unfavorable disease progression, of which 22 were hypertensive. The results show a clear association between hypertension and the severity of COVID-19, as 35% of patients who presented severe complications in the progression of COVID-19 had a prior diagnosis of hypertension.
The study has identified, in hypertensive patients, two molecules related to the activation of the cellular stress response, a key factor in the progression of COVID-19. Additionally, a comprehensive analysis of the lipid species content in blood has confirmed a critical role of phosphatidylcholines, the main component of cell membranes, in the immune system’s response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Detecting molecules that show an altered pattern in blood at the onset of the disease can be a key strategy in diagnosing and anticipating severe complications. In this regard, the findings can help improve the prognosis and quality of life of hypertensive patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, the conclusions highlight the need for further research in the future with a larger sample of patients.
The study, recently published in the journal Scientific Reports (https://rdcu.be/ee3ZZ) by Springer Nature, is part of the research lines carried out by the Biomedical Research Network Center for Infectious Diseases (CIBERINFEC), with the participation of the INIM group of IISPV and the Translational Research Group in Immunology and Aging (TRIA) of IrsiCaixa. The work has involved collaboration with members of the Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases Group (DIAMET), also from IISPV, which belongs to the Biomedical Research Network Center for Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases (CIBERDEM).
The Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) is the center that manages health and biomedical research in the province of Tarragona, bringing together the Joan XXIII University Hospital in Tarragona, Sant Joan de Reus Hospital, Pere Mata Institute in Reus, and Verge de la Cinta Hospital in Tortosa, as well as the Rovira i Virgili University. Since its creation in 2005, the Institute has worked to ensure that biomedical research translates into high-quality clinical practice for the benefit of patients and the improvement of public health. More than 600 professionals, including researchers, technicians, and trainees, are part of IISPV, which has 38 research groups distributed across four strategic areas: the area of Metabolic Diseases and Nutrition, with 16 research groups; the area of Infection, Immunity, and Environment, with a total of 10 groups; the area of Oncology, with 6 more research groups; and the area of Neurosciences and Mental Health, which integrates 6 research groups. IISPV is part of the network of Research Centers of Catalonia (CERCA).
During the visit, the Minister and the Government Delegate were able to learn about the Institute’s new projects, including the creation of the Clinical Research Unit and the expansion of the facilities at the Joan XXIII University Hospital campus
The Minister and the Government Delegate, accompanied by the director and members of the IISPV’s Advisory Management Committee
The Minister of Research and Universities of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Núria Montserrat, and the Government Delegate of the Generalitat in Tarragona, Lucía López, visited the facilities of the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) located at the Sant Joan University Hospital in Reus.
The director of IISPV, Joan Vendrell, accompanied by members of the Advisory Committee, presented some of the Institute’s most imminent projects, such as the creation of the new Clinical Research Unit and the expansion of IISPV’s facilities at the Joan XXIII University Hospital campus.
