The IR Sant Pau is consolidating its international position in biomedical research with the selection of four projects in the latest Horizon Europe calls. Of these, UNSOLVED-CARDS will be the second project coordinated by the institute within this program, demonstrating its capacity to lead international consortia.
The three selected research and innovation actions, UNSOLVED-CARDS, RESTART, and RECALL, foresee funding of €3,295,638 for the IR Sant Pau. These projects are part of consortia with total budgets exceeding €22.4 million. Additionally, the institute will participate in EXACT-EU, a cooperation initiative in advanced therapies. The projects are currently in the grant agreement preparation phase.
Dr. Jordi Surrallés, director of IR Sant Pau, highlights that "international collaboration allows us to gather complementary samples, data, and knowledge to address questions that require a larger scale than a single center. These results reflect the work of the research teams and the supporting units in proposal preparation and project management".
The UNSOLVED-CARDS project, coordinated by Dr. Maria Sabater-Lleal and Dr. Israel Fernández-Cadenas, achieved the highest score (15/15). With a planned duration of five years and a proposed budget of nearly €7 million, it will bring together 11 entities from nine countries, with €2,796,570 allocated to the institute.
The research will focus on coronary artery disease, ischemic stroke, and abdominal aortic aneurysm, aiming to understand the biological mechanisms that differ between men and women. It will combine genetic information, protein levels, and DNA methylation patterns. The project will utilize data from 6,800 individuals and analyze 300 tissue and thrombus samples.
The analysis will incorporate social, environmental, and behavioral factors to study their interaction with biological sex differences. This information will be integrated into risk prediction models and used to select biomarkers for new diagnostic tools. A public atlas of molecular results will also be created.
On the therapeutic front, targeted nanocarriers will be developed to reduce excess proteins or supply deficient ones. These strategies will be evaluated in cellular and animal models of atherosclerosis.
From IR Sant Pau, Dr. Manel Esteller, Dr. Ugutz Unzueta, and Dr. Noemí Rotllan will also participate, contributing their expertise in epigenetics, nanomedicine, and preclinical models of atherosclerosis. The institute will coordinate samples, databases, epigenomic analyses, and nanocarrier development.
The center's international involvement expands with RESTART, dedicated to improving the understanding and care of persistent post-infectious syndromes, including long COVID and sepsis. Coordinated by the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, it has a budget of approximately €8 million, with €242,071.80 for IR Sant Pau.
Dr. Otavio Ranzani will lead the institute's work package focused on identifying modifiable risk factors and prevention opportunities, combining cohort studies, biological mechanism analysis, and treatment evaluation.
RECALL, coordinated by ISGlobal, will investigate how exposure to chemicals, particularly pesticides and PFAS, may influence brain health and cognitive aging throughout life. It will pay special attention to stages like pregnancy, menopausal transition, and midlife, as well as individuals in preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease. This project received 14 out of 15 points and has a budget of approximately €7.5 million, with €256,996.20 for the institute.
Dr. Alexandre Bejanin will be the principal investigator for IR Sant Pau in RECALL. His team will analyze multiple samples (blood, cerebrospinal fluid, hair, and dust) from older adults with Alzheimer's to assess contaminant distribution and its relationship with blood-brain barrier integrity.
The fourth initiative, EXACT-EU, coordinated by Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris, will establish a European network of centers of excellence in advanced therapies, enhancing cooperation in research, development, manufacturing, and access to these treatments. Dr. Javier Briones will be the responsible investigator for IR Sant Pau's participation.
The Cellular Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy group at IR Sant Pau has developed two academic CAR-T therapies being evaluated in clinical trials: HSP-CAR30 for Hodgkin lymphoma and HSP-CAR19M for resistant B-cell lymphomas.
Dr. Jordi Surrallés concludes: "We want these collaborations to continue beyond each project and help us consolidate teams and open new research lines. International growth must expand our capacity to generate knowledge that addresses patient needs".
