Tarragona, 24 October 2024. The Battestini awards are the best x-ray of the world of research in the province of Tarragona. Once again this year, these awards aim to support and recognise scientific research in the field of medicine and, this year, the number of candidatures received has increased considerably, reaching 16 projects presented; 7 in the area of Hospital Care, 5 in Primary Care and 4 doctoral theses.
For Dr. Gemma Flores, president of the jury of the Battestini awards, ‘research provides us with the data and evidence necessary to select the most appropriate treatments, identify the best diagnostic strategies and ensure that our work is guided by the principles of excellence’. It is for this reason that events such as this ‘are essential to promote research among the healthcare community’.
As for the prize for the best research project in the field of hospital or social and healthcare care, the jury awarded the prize to the study Validation of a tool for screening COVID-19 based on artificial intelligence in homes for the elderly. A work carried out by the research group in Emergencies and Emergencies (GRUEM), of the IISPV, the Hospital Sant Joan de Reus and the Rovira i Virgili University, which has developed an innovative tool for mass screening of COVID-19, using a machine learning model that combines symptoms and a simple olfactory test based on the smell of a flavoured hydroalcoholic gel.
This study highlights the importance of new strategies for early detection in vulnerable populations, helping to control transmission of the virus and reduce pressure on health systems.
The professionals who led this project are Youcef Azeli Jarosch, Domingo Latzer Zurano, Gabriel de Febrero Martínez, Montse Duran Taberna, Eduadr Llobet Valero and Alberto Fernandez Sabater. From the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute, the Catalan Institute of Health, the Sant Joan de Reus Hospital and the Rovira i Virgili University.
The prize for the best research project carried out in primary and community care went to the indirect effect of the introduction of the Pn13 pneumococcal vaccine in the childhood vaccination schedule on the incidence of all-cause pneumonia in adults aged ≥50 years in Catalonia.
This multicentre study, conducted in Catalonia, investigated the impact of childhood vaccination with Pn13 on the incidence of all-cause pneumonia in adults. The results of this research show that in the 65-79 age group, where the Pn23 vaccine is recommended, and in immunocompetent people with risk factors, a significant reduction in pneumonia has been detected.
The winners are Verònica Torras Vives, Eva Satue Gràcia, Cinta De Diego Cabanes, Ángel Vila Corcoles and Olga Ochoa Gondar. From the EPIVAC group of the Institut Català de la Salut.
In this case, in the work Effectiveness of brief advice against smoking combined with spirometric information in smokers aged 35-70 years without known respiratory pathology, by Dr. Antonio Santigosa.
Antonio Santigosa.
The winning thesis analyses an intervention strategy based on the combination of brief health advice with detailed information on the results of spirometry. In this way, it is possible to
improve abstinence rates in smokers.
Battestini Honorary Awards
The jury of this edition has decided to award Dr. Jaume Benaiges and Dr. Pere Mestres for their long professional careers. The biographies of the doctors are available on the websites of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Tarragona and the Academy of Medical Sciences of Tarragona.
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