On 21 November, the 1st Collaborative Translational Day between the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR) and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) was held, a meeting focused on boosting synergies between the two institutions.

With this event, VHIR and IBEC give new strength to their alliance with the aim of promoting research and innovation in the field of bioengineering and health. This collaboration is part of a series of initiatives that the two institutions have been developing together in recent years. Previously, IBEC and VHIR had already signed agreements for the development of innovative health interventions and joint scientific projects, but in this new phase of collaboration they are looking to deepen and broaden these synergies through different joint actions.

The directors of each centre have been in charge of welcoming the attendees. Dr. Begoña Benito, director of VHIR, assured that “this will be a day to learn and enjoy a lot, because there is no other way to do science than in a collaborative and interdisciplinary way”. For his part, Dr. Josep Samitier, director of IBEC, said that “we've been working together for some time now, and we hope that this initiative will serve to strengthen collaboration to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic tools for patients”.

Afterwards, different joint initiatives that are already underway were presented, such as the ‘Complementary Plans’. A new joint pre-doctoral fellowship programme was also presented, in which four grants will be offered for doctoral theses co-directed by VHIR and IBEC researchers in order to promote collaborative research projects between the two institutions and thus boost synergies.

As part of the collaboration, the basis for different mentoring actions are also being established to promote the exchange of knowledge between the two institutions. Actions such as the organisation of clinical immersion programmes, clinical translation committees and clinical colloquia are being considered so that IBEC researchers can gain a deeper understanding of how their research can directly impact clinical practice and improve patient health, as well as for healthcare personnel to be able to expose unmet clinical needs that may lead to the development of new lines of translational research.

The day continued with the presentation of projects that have been successful cases of collaboration between the two institutions. Finally, researchers from VHIR and IBEC presented some of the most outstanding projects in the fields of neuroscience, tissue and organoid engineering, infectious diseases, women's health, nanomedicine, cancer and imaging.

The conference also included a networking space to encourage interaction between the participants in the sessions and, therefore, the implementation of new joint projects.