Mireia Gascon Merlos

Mireia Gascon Merlos

PROSAARU

ORCID: 0000-0003-4537-8472

USR Catalunya Central

USR Catalunya Central

Ciencies Mèdiques i de la Vida

Biografia

Projects

Papel de la actividad ganadera en la propagación de la resistencia a los antibióticos en el medioambiente y en los seres humanos: un estudio con enfoque One Health (proyecto RESISTANCE)

  • PI: Josep Vidal Alaball, Mireia Gascon Merlos
  • Duration: 2026-2028
  • Funders: Instituto de Salud Carlos III

There is a lack of epidemiological studies aimed to explore the impact of livestock activity on the environmental spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and ultimately to the exposed population. Our hypothesis is that livestock activity significantly contributes to this spread. The general goal of this project is to evaluate the impact of intensive livestock activity on the spread of ARGs in the environment and the nearby population, focusing on pregnant women and their offspring. We will create a cohort of 500 pregnant women and their babies in Osona and Lluçanès (Central Catalonia), an area with high livestock farming activity. To estimate the exposure of the study population to livestock activity and environmental ARGs, we will apply geographic information systems (GIS) to calculate exposure to livestock farming activities around the residence and workplace of the participants to generate a potential risk map of exposure to ARGs. This map will be complemented with environmental measurements (air samples) in which the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their resistance genes will be determined using culture-dependent and -independent (i.e., qPCR) approaches, respectively. The same determinations will be carried out on the fecal samples of the recruited mothers and their babies. The selection of antibiotic resistances will be based on the prevalent antibiotics used in human medicine and veterinary practices in the study area. We will apply logistic and linear regression models, adjusting for confounding factors. We will also create a Citizen Board that will contribute in different phases of the project. RESISTANCE is embedded in the context of the implementation of a new line of research on Planetary Health – encompassing the One Health and EcoHealth approaches – at IDIAPJGol. In addition, RESISTANCE is an innovative project that will allow advancing knowledge on the contribution of livestock activities in the presence of ARGs in the environment and the potential transference to vulnerable populations living near these activiti

Protocol i formació per a la detecció precoç de l’anquiloglòssia i el seu efecte sobre la lactància materna: un assaig clínic aleatoritzat multicèntric a la Catalunya Central (estudi FRENET)

  • PI: Elisabet Gonzalez Garcia
  • Duration: 2025-2028

Antecedents: l’anquiloglòssia pot afectar fins al 12% dels nadons, i és una de les causes de l’abandonament de la lactància materna en les primeres setmanes postpart. Tot i la disponibilitat d’eines de detecció precoç i la resolució de l’anquiloglòssia amb una senzilla intervenció, a Catalunya no hi ha un protocol establert ni tampoc la formació adequada i sistemàtica dels professionals (infermeres pediàtriques i llevadores) per a la detecció precoç i la seva resolució.
Hipòtesis: Una intervenció educativa dirigida a infermeria pediàtrica i llevadores i disposar d’un protocol per a la detecció precoç de l’anquiloglòssia i la seva gestió millorarà l’autoeficàcia en la lactància materna de mares en puerperi mediat.
Objectiu: avaluar l’efectivitat d’implementar un protocol i una intervenció educativa dirigida a les infermeres pediàtriques i llevadores per a la detecció precoç i tractament de l’anquiloglòssia en mares de nadons en puerperi mediat en diferents CAPs de la Catalunya Central per a la millora de l’autoeficàcia en la lactància materna.
Metodologia: Es durà a terme un estudi experimental, assaig clínic aleatoritzat multicèntric. L’estudi tindrà lloc entre el 2025 i el 2027 a tots els CAPs de la Catalunya Central que desitgin participar-hi. La meitat dels CAPs seran grup control i l’altra meitat grup intervenció, on s’implementarà un protocol i es formarà a les infermeres pediàtriques i llevadores per a la gestió precoç i tractament de l’anquiloglòssia.
Aplicabilitat i rellevància: aquest estudi pretén demostrar l’efectivitat en la millora de la lactància materna de la implementació d’un protocol senzill i la formació dels professionals dels CAPs per a la detecció i tractament precoç de l’anquiloglòssia, oferint eines als professionals per millorar els resultats de salut maternoinfantil en la comunitat.

ePro-Schools – ePlatform for Promoting Health in Schools

  • PI:
  • Duration: 2024-2026
  • Funders: European Commission

There is there is limited high-quality information regarding physical activity, sedentary behaviour and dietary habits focusing on adolescents from socially disadvantaged settings. Therefore, there is a limited number of public health and educational policies specifically designed for this population group. The ePlatform for Promoting Health in Schools, the ePro-Schools project, will address both knowledge gaps in the state-of-theart.
ePro-Schools will evaluate high-quality epidemiological data to identify the determinants of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and dietary habits as well as to which extend these lifestyle behaviours are associated with physical and mental health in adolescents from socially disadvantaged settings.
Furthermore, ePro-Schools will co-design, pilot and evaluate an evidence-based modular eHealth intervention platform to promote physical activity and healthy eating, and reduce time in sedentary behaviours.
A profound co-creation process, including marketing survey and focus groups with adolescents, teachers,
school directors and policy makers together with the adaptation of previous interventions conducted by the consortium members will support the development of the platform.
The ePro-Schools platform will contain modules for adolescents and their parents, teachers and school administration. Although the platform will be implemented through schools, it will include contents to be implemented outside the schools setting.
By evaluating register-based and cohort data, we will identify schools that have adolescents from socially disadvantaged settings to conduct a randomised controlled trial in those schools to test the ePro-Schools platform.
Using implementation science methodology, ePro-Schools will co-design transferable evidence-based practices and methodologies and guidance for scaling up the platform with policymakers and stakeholders as well as informing specialists, policymakers and the general public.

Contrato Miguel Servet Mireia Gascón

  • PI: Mireia Gascon Merlos
  • Duration: 2024-2025
  • Funders: Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Publications

The relationship between the gut microbiota and neuropsychological development and behaviour during childhood and adolescence: a systematic review of epidemiological studies

P. JIMENEZ-ARENAS, M. FERRER, M. RUIZ-RIVERA, J. JÚLVEZ, M. BUSTAMANTE and M. GASCON
Brain Behavior & Immunity-Health. 2026 May 1; . doi:10.1016/j.bbih.2026.101212; PMID:41868611

Exploring the relationship between maternal carbohydrate quality and quantity during pregnancy and early childhood neurodevelopment: a prospective cohort study within the BiSC cohort.

Panisello L, Mateu-Fabregat J, Novau-Ferré N, Ayala-Aldana N, Bernardo-Castro S, Ferrer M, Jiménez-Arenas P, Llurba E, Lassale C, Gómez-Roig MD, Vioque J, González-Palacios S, Contreras-Rodríguez O, Foraster M, Gascon M, Sunyer J, Awad C, Júlvez J and Bulló M
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NUTRITION. 2025 Dec 1; . doi:10.1007/s00394-025-03829-0; PMID:41324685

Holistic evaluation of the impact of pregnancy urban exposome on infant wheezing and chest infections: an outcome-wide approach

R. SINSAMALA, A. ANGUITA-RUIZ, X. BASAGAÑA, M. FORASTER, M. GASCON, E. LLURBA, C. LUO, M. NIEUWENHUIJSEN, C. PERSAVENTO, I. RIVAS, Y. ZHAO, M. GOMEZ-ROIG, J. SUNYER, A. MARCON, A. JOHANNESSEN and P. DADVAND
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL. 2025 Nov 1; . doi:10.1016/j.envint.2025.109900; PMID:41223798

Unraveling the impact of prenatal air pollution for neonatal brain maturation.

Pujol J, Martínez-Vilavella G, Gómez-Herrera L, Rivas I, Gómez-Roig MD, Llurba E, Blanco-Hinojo L, Cirach M, Persavento C, Querol X, Gascón M, Foraster M, Gispert JD, Falcón C, Deus J, Dadvand P and Sunyer J
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL. 2025 Oct 1; . doi:10.1016/j.envint.2025.109801; PMID:40986980

Dietary patterns and exposure to non-persistent endocrine-disrupting chemicals during pregnancy

S. WARKENTIN, S. MÁRQUEZ, H. VESPALCOVÁ, B. KNOX, M. GASCON, N. GÜIL-OUMRAIT, S. GONZÁLEZ-PALACIOS, M. ROIG, C. LASSALE, E. LLURBA, M. ROLLAND, A. SAKHI, C. THOMSEN, J. VIOQUE, M. BUSTAMANTE, J. SUNYER and M. VRIJHEID
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL. 2025 Aug 1; . doi:10.1016/j.envint.2025.109612; PMID:40578114

Epigenome-wide association study of pregnancy exposure to green space and placental DNA methylation.

Aguilar-Lacasaña S, Cosin-Tomas M, Raimbault B, Gómez-Herrera L, Sánchez O, Zanini MJ, Capdevila RP, Foraster M, Gascon M, Rivas I, Llurba E, Gómez-Roig MD, Sunyer J, Bustamante M, Vrijheid M and Dadvand P
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH. 2025 Jun 1; . doi:10.1016/j.envres.2025.121286; PMID:40043929

Air pollution and fetal brain morphological development: a prospective cohort study.

Gómez-Herrera L, Zhao Y, Rivas I, Eixarch E, Domínguez-Gallardo C, Galmes T, Muniesa M, Zanini MJ, Domínguez A, Cirach M, Nieuwenhuijsen M, Basagaña X, Querol X, Foraster M, Bustamante M, Pujol J, Gascon M, Llurba E, Gómez-Roig MD, Dadvand P and Sunyer J
Lancet Planetary Health. 2025 Jun 1; . doi:10.1016/S2542-5196(25)00093-2; PMID:40516539

  • Year: 01/06/2025
  • FI: 21.6
  • Article

Associations between air pollution and surrounding greenness with internalizing and externalizing behaviors among schoolchildren

U. ZUBIZARRETA-ARRUTI, R. BOSCH, M. ARTIGAS, J. CABANA-DOMÍNGUEZ, N. LLONGA, P. CARABÍ-GASSOL, V. MACIAS-CHIMBORAZO, L. VILAR-RIBÓ, J. RAMOS-QUIROGA, M. PAGEROLS, R. PRAT, C. RIVAS, E. PAGESPETIT, J. PUIGBÓ, G. ESPAÑOL-MARTÍN, B. RAIMBAULT, A. VALENTIN, J. SUNYER, M. FORASTER, M. GASCÓN, M. CASAS, M. RIBASÉS and S. ALEMANY
Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 2025 May 1; . doi:10.1111/camh.12772; PMID:40114503

Development of land use regression, dispersion, and hybrid models for prediction of outdoor air pollution exposure in Barcelona.

Domínguez A, Dadvand P, Cirach M, Arevalo G, Barril L, Foraster M, Gascon M, Raimbault B, Galmés T, Goméz-Herrera L, Persavento C, Samuelsson K, Lao J, Moreno T, Querol X, Jerrett M, Schwartz J, Tonne C, Nieuwenhuijsen M, Sunyer J, Basagaña X and Rivas I
Science of The Total Environment. 2024 Dec 1; . doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176632; PMID:39362534

Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, fetoplacental hemodynamics, and fetal growth

B. KNOX, N. GÜIL-OUMRAIT, X. BASAGAÑA, D. CSERBIK, P. DADVAND, M. FORASTER, T. GALMES, M. GASCON, M. GOMEZ-ROIG, L. GOMEZ-HERRERA, L. HAUG, E. LLURBA, S. MÁRQUEZ, I. RIVAS, J. SUNYER, C. THOMSEN, M. ZANINI, M. BUSTAMANTE and M. VRIJHEID
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL. 2024 Nov 1; . doi:10.1016/j.envint.2024.109090; PMID:39454342

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN AIR POLLUTION AND SURROUNDING GREENNESS WITH INTERNALIZING AND EXTERNALIZING BEHAVIORS AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN

U. ZUBIZARRETA-ARRUTI, R. BOSCH, M. ARTIGAS, J. CABANA-DOMÍNGUEZ, P. CARABÍ, J. RAMOS-QUIROGA, M. PAGEROLS, R. PRAT, C. RIVAS, E. PAGESPETIT, J. PUIGBO, M. GASCÓN, M. CASAS, M. RIBASES and S. ALEMANY
EUROPEAN NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY. 2024 Oct 1;

Monitoring and assessment of CO(2) and NO(2) in schools within the Sentinel Schools Network of Catalonia during the COVID-19 era.

Subirana M, Sunyer J, Colom-Cadena A, Bordas A, Casabona J and Gascon M
Chemosphere. 2024 Aug 1; . doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142575; PMID:38852629

Maternal dietary phylloquinone intake (vitamin K1) and early childhood neurodevelopment

J. MATEU-FABREGAT, L. PANISELLO, N. NOVAU-FERRÉ, A. PINAR-MARTÍ, P. JIMENEZ-ARENAS, M. FERRER, I. RIVAS, E. LLURBA, C. LASSALE, M. GÓMEZ-ROIG, J. VIOQUE, S. GONZÁLEZ-PALACIOS, O. CONTRERAS-RODRÍGUEZ, V. ARIJA, M. FORASTER, M. GASCON, P. DADVAND, J. SUNYER, J. JÚLVEZ and M. BULLÓ
PEDIATRIC RESEARCH. 2025 Oct 21; . doi:10.1038/s41390-025-04543-7; PMID:41120727

Prenatal Exposure to Synthetic Phenols Assessed in Multiple Urine Samples and Dysregulation of Steroid Hormone Homeostasis in Two European Cohorts.

Jedynak P, Bustamante M, Rolland M, Mustieles V, Thomsen C, Sakhi AK, Sabaredzovic A, Foraster M, Gascon M, Gómez-Roig MD, Llurba E, Rivas I, Ouellet-Morin I, Bayat S, Lyon-Caen S, Pozo OJ, Vrijheid M, Sunyer J, Slama R, Dadvand P and Philippat C
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES. 2025 May 22; . doi:10.1289/EHP15117; PMID:40117576

Air pollution and systemic immune biomarkers in early life: A systematic review.

Carvajal V, Jorques Molla JV, Luo Y, Zhao Y, Moncunill G and Gascon M
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH. 2025 Mar 15; . doi:10.1016/j.envres.2025.120838; PMID:39832545

A comprehensive GPS-based analysis of activity spaces in early and late pregnancy using the ActMAP framework.

Samuelsson K, Rivas I, Raimbault B, Domínguez A, Galmés T, Valentin A, Foraster M, Gascon M, Persavento C, Psyllidis A, Gomez Roig MD, Olivé EL, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Helbich M, Sunyer J and Dadvand P
HEALTH & PLACE. 2025 Jan 16; . doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2025.103413; PMID:39824032

Prenatal exposure to air pollution and infant cognitive development using an eye-tracking Visual Paired-Comparison task.

Peuters C, Birulés J, Galmés T, Basagaña X, Dominguez A, Foraster M, Gomez-Herrera L, Gómez-Roig MD, Llurba E, Rivas I, Sánchez-Galán J, Bosch L, Gascon M, Dadvand P and Sunyer J
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION. . doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2025.127496; PMID:41354286

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