April 5, 2022
BLOC experts: interview with Matthew Fallon
Matthew Fallon is a mechanical engineer with experience in several engineering fields as draughtsperson, CAD engineer and project engineer. Few months ago, he joined BLOC Project, where he brings all his knowhow working as a junior designer at Oxford Instruments. For sure an important piece for the project!
March 16, 2022
Innovative bioengineered spheres might help treating diabetes
Researchers led by Javier Ramón from BLOC project, in collaboration with IDIBAPS research center in Barcelona, have developed nontoxic small spheres able to respond to variations in glucose levels, and producing insulin in vitro. These biomimetic spheroids containing pancreatic β-cells were prepared based on 3D bioprinting. This approach might help in the future improving clinical outcomes of β-cell transplantation strategies for diabetes treatment, as well as for in vitro drug screening platforms.
March 1, 2022 / News, News Category
Unique resonance technology within reach of BLOC researchers
A Dynamic Nuclear Polarisation (DNP) Polariser for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) has been recently installed at IBEC, coordinator of BLOC project, being the only one in operation in Spain, and among the few ones existing in Europe. This equipment can improve up to 10000 folds the signal compared to a conventional NMR procedure and allows for the study of cellular metabolism in real time.
February 15, 2022
BLOC experts: interview with Samantha Morón
Dr. Samantha Morón is a biochemist from Barcelona with a solid experience in immunology and metabolic diseases. After finishing her PhD, where she studied organ’s reaction to thermogenic response and obesity, she joined the group of Dr. Anna Novials from IDIBAPS to perform a postdoctoral research in the frame of BLOC. Her knowledge and skills are key to the success of the project!
January 28, 2022 / News, News Category
Why do blood glucose levels rise in diabetes? Dissemination talk by Joan-Marc Servitja from IDIPABS
Diabetes is a metabolic disease occurring when glucose levels in the blood are too high, as a result of the malfunctioning on the production and/or action of insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas. Last 25th of January, Joan-Marc Servitja, a BLOC project researcher, gave a talk oriented to a non-scientific public to explain the causes of diabetes and the advances on this research field.
November 19, 2021
BLOC experts: interview with Marc Azagra
Marc Azagra is a PhD student working at IBEC in the frame of BLoC. He studied Chemistry, and after a master in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Mass Spectrometry he decided to pursue his scientific career in the field of NMR applied to biomedicine helping with the chip and microfluidics improvement, and all related with NMR data for BLoC project. Check this video to know a bit of what he currently does in the lab. Enjoy it!
October 4, 2021
BLOC experts: interview with Marc Dubois
Dr. Marc Dubois is an engineer and leading expert on electromagnetic metamaterials for MRI. He has a strong scientific background, and he brought to BLOC project all the knowhow he gained during several years of work in top research institutes in different countries. Since October 2020 he is working at Multiwave Imaging SAS where he leads several research lines focusing on Dynamic Nuclear Polarization and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.
September 27, 2021 / News, News Category
BLOC researchers participate in the “European Researchers Night”
Researchers from BLOC project and the Molecular Imaging for Precision Medicine group at IBEC, Irene Marco-Rius, Alba Herrero, Marc Azagra and Gergo Matajsz participated in the “European Researchers’ Night” which took place last 24th of September in more than 300 cities from 29 different European countries. BLOC researchers took this opportunity to explain why imaging plays such an important role in science.
July 26, 2021
BLOC Experts: Interview with Dian Weerakonda
Mr. Dian Weerakonda is a physicist with a strong background in the field of NMR. He joined Oxford Instruments in 2017 as a service engineer and spent a lot of time travelling the world to install and commission benchtop NMR products. He made multiple contributions to the development of new products and now he is actively involved in R&D tasks. He is a key piece inside BLOC Project!
June 14, 2021 / News, News Category
BLOC Experts: Interview with Vicent Ribas
Dr. Vicent Ribas is a biochemist with a strong background in the study of metabolism. The last years he dedicated his research to understand the impact of metabolic diseases on liver function, using animal and cellular models. His knowhow is crucial for BLOC project, where he validates and interprets the measurements of DNP-NMR with in vivo models of metabolic diseases. You can check here a short video, where he describes his role in BLOC project and shows some of the work he is carrying out at IDIBAPS, and an interview where he explains in more detail some aspects of his professional profile and other topics related to the project.