About the VHIR
Here at the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) we promote biomedical research, innovation and teaching. Over 1,800 people are seeking to understand diseases today so the treatment can be improved tomorrow.
Research
We are working to understand diseases, to find out how they operate and to create better treatments for patients. Get to know about our groups and their lines of research.
People
People are the centre of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR). This is why we are bound by the principles of freedom of research, gender equality and professional attitudes that HRS4R promotes.
Clinical trials
Our work is not just basic or translational; we are leaders in clinical research. Enter and find about the clinical trials we are conducting and why we are a world reference in this field.
Progress
Our aim is to make the research carried out at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) a driving force for transformation. How? By identifying new channels and solutions for the promotion of people's health and well-being.
Core facilities
We offer specialist support for researchers, internal and external alike, ranging from specific services to preparing complete projects. All this, from a perspective of quality and speed of response.
News
We offer you a gateway for staying up to date on everything going on at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), from the latest news to future solidarity activities and initiatives that we are organising.
The Systemic Diseases group performs translational research based on at least 300 patients with systemic lupus erytomatosus (SLE), antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), systemic sclerosis, vasculitis, dermatomyitis, Sjörgen syndrome or autoinflammatory syndromes in order to better understand their pathogenesis (both at the immunological and genetic regulation level), study their clinical and biological expression (through the detection of new markers that help characterize each of the autoimmune diseases), study morbimortality (through epidemiological studies) and analyse patients' response to medications. With these goals in mind, we seek to improve the diagnosis, clinical monitoring, and prognosis of our patients.
Antibodies against HERVs have been detected in patients suffering from some autoimmune diseases such as SLE, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome, and multiple sclerosis. We mainly focus our research on trying to detect these antibodies in our patients affected with SLE. We have recently cloned some recombinant proteins specific for HERVs. We are simultaneously evaluating the transcription levels of several HERV proteins in T CD4+ lymphocytes from SLE patients.
IP: -
We are currently enrolled in this multicentre study coordinated by Dr. Seema Kalra from University Hospital of North Staffordshire (UK). The study aims to define new diagnostic criteria for neuro-Behçet disease. A set of neurologists, rheumatologists and specialists in Internal Medicine from different countries, experts in the diagnosis and management of this disease, will try to define a new set of diagnostic criteria based on clinical expertise, and in the most new laboratory and radiology modern tests.
IP: Roser Solans Laque
This is a multicentric study aimed at defining new diagnosis criteria for muscular inflammatory diseases. Although criteria given by Bohan and Peter are still used in clinical practice, some inflammatory diseases such as inclusion body myositis are not included. The hytopathological classification performed by Dalakas includes the latter entity but it does not take into account neither the paraneoplastic myositis nor those associated to systemic diseases.
IP: Albert Selva O'Callaghan
With this study we want to study the natural history of this syndrome mediated by anti-synthetase antibodies, the characterization of new antibodies that may be used as markers for lung involvement, as well as we aim at understanding better the etiopathogenicity and the treatment of this organic illness in patients with myositis.
The study describes the first documented case worldwide of hereditary angioedema transmission through assisted reproduction.
15 researchers from the Rheumatology, Systemic Diseases and the Physiology and Pathophysiology of the Digestive Tract groups gave around 25 presentations.
The new technology allows more sensitive detection of scleroderma patients' autoantibodies, which are related to the severity and progression of the disease.
