Vall d'Hebron and IDIAP Jordi Gol collaborate for research on cardiovascular diseases and diabetes

Today, November 30, a conference was held to present the main lines of research in which both institutions collaborate in this field.

 This morning a conference was held within the framework of an agreement between the Vall d'Hebron Recerca and the IDIAP Jordi Gol to promote collaboration between hospital research and research in primary care. The session, focused especially on interactions in the area of ​​vascular biology and metabolism, establishes the starting point of a strategic alliance between both institutions to improve data collection for research and jointly take advantage of the experience and knowledge of all the professionals.

"It is a pleasure to host a conference like this to promote collaboration between different entities that lead us to carry out the best research", Dr. Albert Salazar, manager of the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, explained today. Dr. Joan X. Comella, director of the Vall d'Hebron Recerca, added that "this agreement makes it possible to promote scientific research of excellence, the result of which will contribute to solving the health needs of the population". "The establishment of a permanent relationship framework is key to improving the scientific, technological and healthcare impact of its activities in both Vall d'Hebron and IDIAPJGol",Dr. Josep Basora, director of IDIAPJGol, has pointed out.

The objective of the agreement is to take advantage of the qualification of Vall d'Hebron human and material resources, as well as its prestige and experience in the management and development of biomedical and clinical research projects, together with the experience and recognized prestige of the IDIAPJGol in the primary care field, as well as in real-world data management.“Through this alliance, each of the two institutions will contribute to the other its knowledge, experience and specific capacities to promote mutual institutional improvement and we will collaborate to make an important qualitative leap in research aimed at improving people's health. ”, explains Dr. Fátima Núñez, deputy director of the Vall d'Hebron Recerca.

The conference allows the generation of complicities between the professionals of both institutions, necessary to carry out cross-cutting projects with a greater impact on people's health and quality of life. Specifically, it has focused on the presentation of lines of research in which synergies can be found in the field of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, two types of pathologies that require monitoring for many years.

In the case of cardiovascular diseases, for example, patients have acute episodes that are treated in the hospital, but, in addition, it is a chronic pathology for which continuity in primary care is necessary.“Patients with heart failure, for example, require follow-up throughout their lives and this generates a large amount of information both in the hospital and in primary care. Working in a network helps a fluid healthcare interaction and also to carry out higher quality research ", argues Dr. Ignacio Ferreira, head of the Cardiology Service of the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital and head of the group of Cardiovascular Diseases of the Vall d'Hebron Recerca.

In relation to projects on diabetes, the lines of collaborative research are mainly focused on the control of diabetic retinopathy. Dr. Rafael Simó, head of the Endocrinology and Nutrition Service of the Vall d'Hebron Hospital and head of the Diabetes and Metabolism group of the Vall d'Hebron Recerca, assures that"we will work together to improve metabolic control and comorbidities associated with diabetes and, specifically, we have highlighted the importance of diabetic retinopathy as a predictor of cardiovascular risk".

This session is considered a starting point for collaboration between both entities in other diseases. In addition, and under the signed agreement, nine research groups from IDIAPJGol have already joined the Vall d'Hebron research structure: Cardiovascular Research; Epidemiological Research on Diabetes in Primary Care; Prevention, diagnosis and management of frailty and functional deterioration, both physical and cognitive, in older people; Lifestyles; Serious Mental Illness; Research in Infectious Diseases in Primary Care; Healthcare; Research in Respiratory Diseases in Primary Care; Research in Prevalent Diseases of the Musculoskeletal System in Primary Care.

The agreement will also allow collaborative projects to be carried out and that researchers from Vall d'Hebron Recerca and IDIAP Jordi Gol can reciprocally access the management services of clinical trials, innovation and management of European projects of both institutions. as well as participating in research management and advisory bodies.