Josep Quer Sivila

I am a senior researcher at VHIR, specializing in Virology. Since 1989, I have focused my studies on research regarding the infection by the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), with a special emphasis on viral diversity. In 1992, I participated in the first description of the quasispecies nature of HCV. Since 2010, our research has been centred on the use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms to study the diversity of viral genomes, especially viral hepatitis (A, B, C, D, and E). We have successfully patented and implemented into routine diagnosis a method for subtype classification and another for reporting resistances to antiviral treatments against HCV. The complete sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in March 2020 has allowed us to monitor the tracking variations in defective genomes in the variants that have dominated each wave of SARS-CoV-2. Currently, we are developing bioinformatic pipelines for metagenomic studies.

Institutions of which they are part

Main researcher
Liver Diseases

Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca

Josep Quer Sivila

Institutions of which they are part

Main researcher
Liver Diseases

Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca

Senior Researcher at Vall d'Hebron Institut of Research (VHIR), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus from 2021 (indefinite contract). Associate Professor at the Biochemistry and Molecular Department of the UAB from 2021 to present (3933001435 Y0LOU0146). Accredited researcher at CIBERehd (2010-prest). Accredited as Professor (Catedrático) from AQU (Generalitat de Catalunya) from 2023.
Academic background:
Bachelor in Biology from UB (1981-86).
PhD in Biology from UAB (1994) with extraordinary award.
Postdoctoral stay in the University of California at San Diego USA (1994-96).
Member of Ciberehd since 2007-act.
Associate Professor (AP) of Immunology, UB (1988-89); AP Medicine, UAB (2003-18); AP of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UAB (2021-pres.).
General Coordinator Master in "Translational Biomedical Research" VHIR-UAB (2020-pres.). Professor and coordinator of Module 1 Master in "Translational Biomedical Research" VHIR-UAB since 2014-pres.

Scientific and professional activities:
Projects: Since 2016, he has led 10 overlapping competitive financed projects, serving as the Principal Investigator (PI) in eight national projects and as the co-IP of the local-node in two European Union projects.
Thesis: 6 PhD thesis directed, and 3 under development.
Papers and reviews: 154 papers; 8 book chapters & 1 book published in 2023.
Meetings participation: 220, 66 of them as invited speaker.

Other merits:
Member Coordinator Committee “Strategic Plan for Tackling hepatitis C (PEAHC) Spanish Ministry of Health;
Treasurer Spanish Society of Virology (SEV) (2009-pres.);
Member of scientific societies (ESV;AEEH;SCB) and of Alliance for the Elimination of Hepatitis in Spain (AEHVE).
Organizing Committee of International Symposium Fundación Ramón Areces (2013); and SEV National Meetings (2013-2015-2017-2019-2022).

Impacts printed, digital, radio and TV. NGS-2010: 32 impacts; HCV-2015: 69 impacts; SARS-CoV-2 – 2020-23: 90 impacts.

Awards: Ciudad de Barcelona (1996); Best ideas Diario Medico (2015); Premi Ciència i Tecnologia Diari Regió7-Prensa Ibérica (2020).

Metrics: h-index:41 (scholar), 35 (WoS), 37 (Scopus); i10-index: 116; Citations (WoS): 8371; Views: >40000. ORCID: 0000-0003-0014-084X // WOS ResearcherID A-6741-2012 // SCOPUS ID: 7004592398

Social media:
Linkedin: Josep Quer
Twitter (X): @JosepQuerSivila / @VirusLabQ (Virus Lab by Dr. Josep Quer) / @HepatitisSEV

Research lines

Hepatitis virals - biologia molecular

Subtipat i resistències del virus de la hepatitis C

Quasispècies del virus de la hepatitis E

Exosomes hepàtics en malalties hepàtiques i tumors hepàtics

Identificació, caracterització i variabilitat d’agents virals per seqüenciació massiva, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)

Serveis o tecnologies rellevants

Seqüenciació Sanger i massiva (NGS)

Extracció i amplificació àcids nucleics

Filogènia molecular disseny primers

Tècniques de Biologia Molecular

Gradients per aïllament i estudi d'exosomes en plasma i femta

Citometria de Flux

Resposta immune cel·lular

Cultius

Clonació, expressió de proteïnes recombinants en cultius cel·lulars

Bioinformàtica

IP: Juan Ignacio Esteban Mur, Josep Quer Sivila

Projects

Application of bioinformatic tools in the diagnosis of infectious diseases through metagenomics and deep-sequencing

IP: Josep Quer Sivila
Collaborators: Marta Ibañez Lligoña, Miriam Izquierdo Sans
Funding agency: Fundació "La Caixa"
Funding: 117900
Reference: 132074
Duration: 01/09/2023 - 31/08/2026

Beca VHIR PhD

IP: Josep Quer Sivila
Collaborators: Sira Rodrigo Bosch, Laia Perez Lasarte, Carolina Campos Martinez
Funding agency: Fundació Institut de Recerca HUVH
Funding: 69188.74
Reference: VPHD/CAROLINA_C
Duration: 01/04/2023 - 31/03/2026

diVHulga. Programa anual de actividades UCC+I del Campus Vall d’Hebron (VH)

IP: Immaculada Hernández Rodríguez
Collaborators: Josep Quer Sivila, Sara Ruiz Gallardo, Mayte Serrat Lopez, Julia Basallote Garciade Quiros, Beatriz Blasco Perez, Ariadna Laguna Tuset, Diana Fernandes de Rafael
Funding agency: Fundación Española Ciencia y Tecnología (FECYT)
Funding: 30000
Reference: FCT-23-19812
Duration: 01/07/2024 - 30/06/2025

Estudio de quasispecies por metagenómica en neuropatías asociadas a virus por secuenciación masiva de nueva generación.

IP: Josep Quer Sivila
Collaborators: Sergi Colomer Castell, Marta Ibañez Lligoña, Lluís Viladomiu Catà, Damir Garcia Cehic, Maria Piñana Moro, Pablo Gabriel Medina, Arnau Llauradó Gayete, Carolina Campos Martinez, Alejandra Gonzalez Sánchez
Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III
Funding: 292820
Reference: PI22/00258
Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2025