Noticias

• Navarrabiomed participates together with the Department of Rural Development and Environment, the UPNA, CSIC-IDAB and the public companies INTIA and Nasertic and the company Josenea

The Government of Navarra has approved at this Wednesday's session its initiative to join the Navarra Association for Hemp Research (ANIC), promoted by the Department of Rural Development and Environment and that will be established shortly together with the UPNA (and its two institutes, ISFOOD-Institute for Innovation and Sustainable Development of the Food Chain- and IMAB -Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology), Navarrabiomed (biomedical research centre), the CSIC-IDAB (Institute of Agrobiotechnology of the Higher Scientific Research Centre), the public companies INTIA and Nasertic and the private company Josenea.

The purpose of the Association is to obtain and manage, with a criterion of equity between the partners and with a territorial vision for Navarra, the relevant licenses or authorizations of the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) and, specifically, the authorization for the cultivation of hemp plants for research purposes; the authorization for the cultivation of these plants for medical and scientific purposes; and, subsequently and on an annual basis, the annual authorization of total area and plots for the cultivation of hemp plants.

In addition, the objectives of the ANIC are:

• To group and coordinate all those operating with industrial or medicinal hemp in Navarra, at present or in the future, providing them with a legal tool for coordination and sectoral dialogue for their institutional and intersectoral relations.
• To promote cooperation between companies, research and training centres and institutions for the boosting, growth and coordination of the industrial and medicinal hemp sector in Navarra, in its aspects of research, cultivation, industrial transformation and marketing of final product, encouraging the design and launch of collaborative projects.
• To contribute to the promotion of research, development and innovation in the industrial and medicinal hemp sector of Navarra, in all links of the value chain, and with special emphasis on: the development of new varieties of industrial and medicinal hemp and genetic research; in the research of medical, pharmacological, food, industrial and cosmetic properties of hemp; in the research of medicinal, industrial and commercial applications of its derivatives; in the research of the economic potentials of industrial and medicinal hemp as an alternative crop for economically disadvantaged areas and/or in risk of depopulation; and any new line of research that may be interesting for the sector and the territory of the Autonomous Community of Navarra.
• To create, consolidate and enhance a sectoral image for all the economic and research activity that is generated around industrial and medicinal hemp in Navarra, and that includes all aspects of research, agricultural, cultivation, industrial, biomedical and commercial aspects.
• And, finally, to facilitate and coordinate sectoral relations at the national and international levels.
   

Gómez: "Navarra has great potential in the entire value chain”

After its approval in the Government session, the Minister of Rural Development and Environment, Itziar Gómez, has presented this initiative accompanied by representatives from the various centres, societies and the company that will be part of the Association. The minister stressed that "Navarra has great potential in the entire value chain: a strong agricultural sector, personnel and reference centres in research, as well as important pharmaceutical and agri-food companies”.

“Therefore, we believe that the Regional Community can be a reference and be well positioned for the new regulatory framework in the matter that is planned for 2023. Interestingly those who want to operate in this area in Navarra are well established at the starting line of a new economic sector that can thrive and for which Navarra, as said, has potential throughout the value chain,” she explained.

As the minister has pointed out, the Department “has been working on this issue since 2020. Early that year we commissioned a study on the potentialities of hemp cultivation as a strategic circular economy and innovation project for Navarra and from there we continued to take steps”.
On the one hand, we contacted the AEMPS (Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products), “who grants the licenses, to verify with them the real possibilities of promoting a project with a research license and, on the other hand, making an appeal to different agents that we understood might be interested in hemp research to design together a project to carry out,” she explained.

As explained by Itziar Gómez, “The truth is that we had a very good reception in terms of forming a working group to boost research. In addition to those now present, we also contacted pharmaceutical companies and other private companies that do not rule out participating in the Association at a later stage. In fact, the association is open to the incorporation of new partners”.

The current phase of the association, in addition to its own incorporation, focuses on submitting a research project to the AEMPS to obtain a research license, so, at this moment in the process, the objective is not commercial cultivation.
Once the association is formally constituted and once approved the proposed statutes in the Government Agreement record approved at today's session, the Autonomous Community of Navarra will belong to the association as sponsor or founder, participating in the act of incorporation of the association.

Research project

In parallel to the steps for the constitution of the Association, its members have worked on a first research project that they are finalizing to present to the AEMPS once the ANIC is set up.

This is a variety testing project. It consists of selecting hemp varieties with a high CBD content (a non-psychoactive component of hemp) and a low THC content (psychoactive component), adapted to the growing conditions of Navarra, taking into account morphological, physiological, agronomic (phenotypic in general) and genotypic characteristics (by using molecular markers indicating the THC/CBD chemotype ratio of the varieties).
In addition, a second objective is the study and characterization of the derived products for their marketing by industries of the agri-food sector as proteins and lipids of nutritional interest and biocompounds from the selected varieties.

The project would be located on the Josenea de Lumbier farm that meets the prerequisites set by the AEMPS, that is, it is located in a closed, video-monitored environment, near a population centre and a police station or civil guard station.

Photo caption L-R: Ignacio Gil (General Directorate of Agriculture and Livestock); Luis Orcaray (INTIA); Maite Mendioroz (Navarrabiomed); Txus Cía (Josenea); Lucía Ramírez (IMAB-UPNA); Gonzalo Rodríguez (NASERTIC); Itziar Gómez (minister); José María González de Diego (CSIC-IDAB); Natxo Irigoien (UPNA); and Patxi Ibáñez (ISFOOD-UPNA) .

Carmen Gómez Arrebola, predoctoral researcher at the Microbial Pathogenesis Research Unit of Navarrabiomed, will be sitting her viva (Public University of Navarra) next Tuesday, July 5th at 11:30 in the examination hall of EDONA, Edificio El Sario (UPNA).

The doctoral work, entitled "Role of the two-component systems of Staphylococcus aureus in the susceptibility to complestatin and corbomycin and in gene regulation in the absence of phosphorylation”, has been developed at Navarrabiomed under the direction of Dr. Iñigo Lasa Uzcudun and Dra. Cristina Solano Goñi.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a versatile bacterium that can be found as a commensal on the skin of approximately 30% of the population without causing any problems. However, when it crosses the epithelial barrier and depending on the carrier's immune status, it can cause mild pathologies, such as abscesses, or severe ones, such as endocarditis or osteomyelitis. There is a wide range of drugs for the treatment of these pathologies, however, S. aureus has developed mechanisms that allow it to increase its resistance and evade the effect of these antibiotics. 

Bacteria have the ability to adapt to the changes that occur around them thanks to different detection and communication systems, including the so-called “two-component systems” (TCSs). Through them, the bacteria perceive what is happening around them and by modulating the expression of certain genes, can adapt to the changes occurred. The TCSs of S. aureus they have a very important role in the development of resistance to the various antimicrobials currently used in the clinical setting, as well as in the stimulation of growth in the form of biofilm, further increasing their resistance to antibiotics.
The appearance of strains of multidrug-resistant S. aureus has led to the alarming need to develop new antibiotics that allow the treatment of infections caused by these strains, as well as the need for progress in our knowledge on the molecular mechanisms that produce this increased resistance. 

Thesis abstract and results

During her doctoral thesis, Carmen Gómez has analysed the involvement of the TCSs of S. aureus in the susceptibility to two antibiotics of the glycopeptide family, complestatin and corbomycin, recently discovered. The results have shown that the VraSR system regulates elements of the bacterial wall that affect the susceptibility of this bacterium to both antibiotics. 

Another part of the study has been devoted to analyse the regulation by TCSs in their non-phosphorylated form. It has traditionally been considered that the response regulators of TCSs exercise their regulatory function in their phosphorylated state, and that in their non-phosphorylated state, they have no regulatory activity. However, considerable evidence shows that TCSs in their unphosphorylated state also exert gene expression modulation functions. After a review of the existing evidence regarding the regulation by TCSs in their non-phosphorylated state, the work has delved into the regulation of biofilm formation by ArlRS TCS. The results obtained suggest that ArlR regulates the expression of the main exopolysaccharide of the S. aureus biofilm in both its phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated state. 

Disclosure and financing

The work carried out has led to the scientific publication, “Regulation of gene expression by non-phosphorylated response regulators”, published in International Microbiology. A second publication entitled “Staphylococcus aureus susceptibility to corbomycin and complestatin depends on the VraSR two component system” has been submitted and is in the process of being reviewed. 

In addition, it has been disseminated at the 31st European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) and the XXVIII Congress of the Spanish Society of Microbiology.
For the development of the thesis, Carmen Gómez had a predoctoral contract from the UPNA. Research has received funding through the calls for Aid to R&D&i projects 2017 of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and Aid to R&D&i projects 2020 of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, granted to the projects:

• “Functional characterization of the molecular determinants for the adaptation of Staphylococcus aureus to virulence”.  BIO2017-83035-R. 
• “Non-contiguous operons: a new level of gene regulation in bacteria”. PID2020-113494RB-100. 

The prize, with 10,000 euros, has been awarded ex aequo to a study on brain magnetic resonance imaging as a biomarker of ALS, developed by the University Hospital of Navarra in collaboration with Navarrabiomed, and an application designed by the University Clinic of Navarra to monitor the treatment of food allergies with oral immunotherapy.
 

The Scientific Directorate of IdiSNA has decided to grant the Technology and Health Foundation (FTyS) award ex aequo, with 10,000 euros, to two projects related to health technologies. The different entities that make up IdiSNA were able to apply for this award through an intramural call.
Dr. Teresa Cabada, Head of the Neuroradiology Section of the University Hospital of Navarra, leads one of the winning proposals. A study on brain magnetic resonance as a biomarker in degenerative motor neuron disease. As described by Cabada, “Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease whose diagnosis is difficult at an early stage, which translates into a delayed diagnosis and delayed administration of neuroprotective drugs”. All this highlights the importance of defining diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in ALS.

To date, 33 patients have been recruited who have undergone a clinical and neuropsychological evaluation. The post-processing of the MRI is carried out by the Algebra and Applications Research Unit of Navarrabiomed, which analyses the images along with other clinical variables to find radiological markers associated with the disease or its evolution. "By using advanced sequencing techniques, mathematicians are able to detect subtle alterations and generate predictive models from the data obtained”, it concludes.

With this project, funded by the Government of Navarra and which now also has financial support from IdiSNA, magnetic resonance imaging is postulated as a promising test to predict the disease and its evolution.
The second acknowledgement has been awarded to an initiative of the University of Navarra Clinic. It is an application to monitor the treatment of food allergies with oral immunotherapy led by Dr. María José Goikoetxea, specialist of the Department of Allergology.
 

Caption (from left to right): Itiziar Uzqueda (Navarrabiomed), Marisol Gómez (Navarrabiomed), Javier Díaz (HUN), Ivonne Jericó (HUN), Juan Quizhpilema (HUN) Teresa Cabada (HUN), José Manuel Hidalgo (HUN), María José Goikoetxea (CUN), Sergio Sánchez (CUN), Maite Lacunza (CUN) and Amaia Izal ( CUN). 

Nicolás Martínez Velilla (HUN) takes over fromRosario Luquin in the position of scientific director in this new stage while Felipe Prósper (CUN) will be deputy director and Nuria Goñi (Osasunbidea/AP) completes the team as board member.

The Institute of Health Research of Navarra (IdiSNA) has renewed and reinforced its scientific management with a double change: the replacement of Rosario Luquín by Nicolás Martínez Velilla (HUN) and the creation of two new positions: that of deputy director -to be held by Felipe Prósper (CUN) - and that of board member, held by Nuria Goñi Ruiz (Osasunbidea/AP).

In this way, in addition to an original component of public-private collaboration, the vision of research in Primary Health Care is added at this first level of leadership as part of the start of a new stage in this institute formed by University Hospital of Navarra (HUN), the University of Navarra Clinic (CUN), the Public University of Navarra  (UPNA), University of Navarra, Navarrabiomed, Cima University of Navarra,  Institute of Public and Occupational Health and Primary Health Care of the Navarra Health Service - Osasunbidea.

The IdiSNA Board of Trustees addressed in its today's session the importance of disseminating this new trend in the scientific and healthcare community as the main reference in order to promote research in this new stage. The Minister of Health, Santos Induráin, who chairs the Board of Trustees, has recognized and thanked the involvement of the outgoing scientific director, Rosario Luquin (CUN), and highlighted the comprehensive vision of the new scientific structure and the curriculum of its three representatives who have already begun their work.

Nicolás Martínez Velilla is currently head of Geriatrics at the University Hospital of Navarra and an intensified researcher at Navarrabiomed-Miguel Servet Foundation since 2019.  Graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Navarra (1996) he completed his training as a specialist in Geriatrics in England, Madrid (University Hospital of Getafe) and Pamplona, since he received his doctorate at UPNA with a thesis on multimorbidity in the elderly, studies he completed in the field of Probability and Statistics (UNED) and Health services (University of Alcalá).
These are the fields in which he has deepened in his research activity –compatible with healthcare - since he has been a member of the Research Network in Health Services and Chronic Diseases REDISSEC of the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) and later in the CIBER frailty and healthy aging network of this same institute.
In 2013 he created the Geriatrics Research Group of Navarrabiomed-Miguel Servet Foundation with an extensive number of publications. He is a visiting professor in the subject of Geriatrics at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Navarra and associate professor at the Public University of Navarra in the area of Preventive Medicine.
He has been a representative of the Spanish Geriatrics Society in various state and international organizations. Since 2019 he has been a member of the Board of the European Academy of Geriatric Medicine and Vice-President of the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology.

For his part, Felipe Prósper is a reference in Haematology since he co-directs the Haematology Department and leads the Cell Therapy Area of the Navarra University Clinic, a clinic he joined after a time at the Hospital Clínico de Valencia. He also directs the Haemato-Oncology and Regenerative Medicine Programs at the Cima University of Navarra. Graduated in Medicine and Surgery (1989) and doctor (1994) from that university, he completed his training with a postdoctoral stay at the University of Minnesota.
He is one of the promoters of the National Cellular Therapy Network (TerCel) of the ISCIII, as well as the RICORS TERAV. He is a member of the Cancer CIBER (CIBERONC) of the ISCIII, as the main researcher of one of its groups. Since 2015 he has been a Professor of Haematology at the University of Navarra, has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Spanish Society of Haematology and Haemotherapy (SEHH) and the Spanish Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (SETGYC), and formerly coordinator of the Oncology department of IdiSNA.

Finally, Nuria Goñi Ruiz (graduated in Medicine from the UN in 2001) comes from the area of Primary and Community Care of Navarra, work that she has combined with her research vocation since she received a doctorate at the University of Navarra in parallel with a long professional career of eleven years in various health centres.
Her professional profile also includes experience in management since 2016, carrying out technical tasks in the Support Service for Clinical Management and Continuity of Care of the Primary Health Care Management unit, carrying out technical support tasks for the Health Centres of Navarra of training and coordination with hospitals seeking the reinforcement of Primary Health Care.
In the field of Primary Health Care she has also worked on the implementation of different strategies of the Department of Health (Navarra Strategy for Integrated Care for chronic and multi-pathological patients) and application protocols in Primary Health Care, especially in relation to Frailty Care in the elderly. This has led her to participate in different multidisciplinary coordination groups and in several strategies. Since 2021 she has also been an associate professor in the area of Medicine at UPNA.   

More than 1,000 researchers from 8 institutions

The purpose of the IdiSNA is to contribute to raising the quality of research, and, as a result of the biomedical care and teaching of the Foral Community of Navarra, as well as to optimize the existing human and material resources. To this end, synergies between clinical and basic groups will be promoted based on the models of already existing translational groups.

The research staff of IdiSNA in 2021 has 1,065 researchers, working in 96 research groups. These groups are allocated to nine research areas: Epidemiology and Public Health (EPSP); Primary Health Care, Health Services and Chronic Diseases (APSS); Mental Health (SMTAL); Digestive System and Metabolic Diseases (DEM); Inflammatory, Immune and Infectious Diseases (EIII); Neurosciences (NEUR); Onco-Haematology (OHEM); Cardiovascular and Renal Diseases (CVRDs); Advanced Therapies and Diagnostic Innovation (ATAID) and Bioengineering and Health Biotechnologies (BBS).
In the last year IdiSNA has been received a total of 61 research grants in competitive calls with a total funding of € 6,592,733.  The total scientific output of the institute is around one thousand contributions annually.

• A researcher from La Rioja has obtained a scholarship to study her postdoc in Navarrabiomed-IdiSNA.
• This young talent receives support within the framework of the Junior Leader postdoctoral scholarship program, which has awarded a total of 45 scholarships in 2021 to excellent researchers.
• The call pursues a dual goal: to support the best Spanish and Portuguese talent by encouraging them to stay in their homeland with optimal conditions to carry out their projects, as well as to globalize the Spanish and Portuguese research system, attracting promising international researchers.

La Fundación ”la Caixa” this year has awarded 45 postdoctoral fellowships to researchers who will carry out their projects at leading universities and research centres in Spain and Portugal. In this way, the organization supports young talents and promotes innovative and high-quality research in the Iberian Peninsula. Among those awarded, Maria Apellaniz has been selected, who shall join the Navarrabiomed research centre of the Navarra Health Research Institute.
”La Caixa" Foundation offers the most important scholarship program among those promoted by private entities in Spain and Europe, both due to the number of scholarships offered and the variety of disciplines. The objective of these postdoctoral grants, to which the entity has allocated 11.28 million euros this year, is to retain local talent of excellence, as well as to attract foreign researchers, offering them competitive salaries and additional opportunities for training in cross-disciplinary skills.

Junior Leader Postdoctoral Program

Co-financed by the European Commission through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND Action, within the framework of Horizon 2020, this program is intended for the recruitment of excellent researchers, of any nationality, who wish to continue their research career in Spanish or Portuguese territory in the areas of health and life sciences, technology, physics, engineering and mathematics.
These postdoctoral fellowships, which have a duration of three years and an allocation of 305,100 euros per grant, include a complementary training program, with the aim of consolidating research skills and promoting an independent scientific career as an option for a professional future, dealing with topics such as leadership, conflict resolution or communication.
In this call, more than 700 people have applied to qualify for one of the fellowships. Of the 45 awardees, 20 are Spanish (from 14 provinces) and 25 foreign nationals (from 14 different countries). One of the awardees is pursuing her postdoctoral studies in Pamplona.
She is María Apellániz, born in Logroño in 1988, she has a degree in biochemistry from the University of Navarra (Pamplona) and a master's degree in biomedicine from the Autonomous University of Madrid (Madrid). In 2012, she joined the Hereditary Endocrine Cancer Group of the National Cancer Research Centre (Madrid) to complete her doctorate with another grant from the ”la Caixa” Foundation, during which time she worked on the identification of genetic variants that influence the response to treatment and toxicity in cancer patients. Subsequently, to expand her knowledge of human genetics, she completed a 3-year postdoctoral degree at McGill University (Canada). At the laboratory with Dr. Foulkes, she studied hereditary cancer syndromes and characterized the mechanisms involved in their pathogenesis. In 2020, she returned to Spain to join the Genomic Medicine Unit of Navarrabiomed (Pamplona), where she is responsible for analysing genomic data to discover genetic alterations underlying familial hypercholesterolemia and genetic markers associated with the response to statins. Her research has led to 37 publications in international journals, 11 of them as first author. Her goal is to understand the genetic differences underlying disease susceptibility and drug response, in order to benefit patients and promote customized medicine.
 
Project

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is one of the most common hereditary diseases, with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 250 people worldwide. FH, which is characterized by considerably high blood levels of cholesterol from birth, confers an increased risk of premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) throughout life. Therefore, early diagnosis and suitable treatment substantially improve the CVD-free survival of these patients. However, the disease is still underdiagnosed and undertreated. The objective of this proposal is to apply a unique multidisciplinary strategy to personalize the diagnosis and treatment of patients with FH and their families, in order to reduce the morbidity and mortality of CVD episodes. This project will be carried out by integrating genomics, functional assays and clinical and lifestyle data. The results of this study may uncover new disease-causing genes/variants and genetic markers of statin response and CVD risk that could be used in clinical practice.
 

• The study is part of a national research initiative promoted by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Carlos III Health Institute) in which 17 health centres and nursing homes of 10 Autonomous Communities participate

Primary Health Care and the Navarrabiomed biomedical research centre, through their Clinical Trials Platform, have launched the observational study in the Regional Community ENE-COVID Senior on the third dose of the vaccine against COVID-19. The study is carried out within the framework of the national vaccination program and is aimed at generating knowledge about the immunization capacity acquired in elderly patients over time.
The initiative is part of national research conducted by the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) in coordination with the ministries of Health and Science and Innovation, and entitled “Prospective Study to establish the immune status in the elderly after receiving a full course of vaccination ene-covid senior”. ENE-COVID Senior is a differentiated branch of the ENE-COVID national seroprevalence study (National Sero-Epidemiology survey of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection in Spain) being carried out since the onset of the pandemic.
 
Study characteristics

Specifically, the ENE-COVID Senior study will serve to establish the humoral and cellular immune status against SARS-CoV-2 in people aged 65 years or older having received the third dose of the vaccine for one year. Accordingly, the aim is to recruit a total of 1,600 patients coming from 17 centres from over 10 Autonomous Communities.
To do this, biological samples will be obtained and analysed from people who have received a full course of vaccination against Covid-19 at least 6 months before inclusion in the study. Samples will be taken at different times over 12 months. The participants come from nursing homes, Primary Health Care centres and hospitals, and are divided by age groups: 65-74, ≥75-84 and ≥ 85 years. The control group includes people under 65 years of age, mainly social and health workers from nursing homes and hospitals where the study is carried out.

In Navarra, the participation of patients is limited to the Barañain II health centre and the study is led by Dr. Itziar Blanco Platero, principal investigator and director of the aforementioned centre. “The objective is to generate knowledge as consistent as possible regarding the magnitude and duration of humoral and cellular immunity and to obtain information to establish future actions related to vaccination,” says Dr. Blanco.
The Clinical Trials Platform of Navarrabiomed has managed the start-up of the study through the Clinical Research Units and Clinical Trials Platform (SCReN) of the ISCIII, to which it belongs, providing the human and material resources necessary for its implementation. The choice of the Barañain II health centre also responds to the existing vaccination strategy in Navarra at the moment and the proximity of Navarrabiomed, an aspect that has facilitated the development and logistics necessary for study implementation.
 
Promotion of public health research in Navarra

To date and since the onset of the pandemic, the Clinical Trials Platform de Navarrabiomed has managed the initiation of more than thirty COVID-19 initiatives, two of them being multicentre trials led by research staff from Navarra and promoted by Navarrabiomed. The team is actively working so that researchers from the public health network of Navarra participate in Covid-19 clinical studies from which the group of patients of the Navarra Health Service-Osasunbidea can benefit. “Nowadays the decentralization of clinical trials is encouraged and Navarra is a community whose public health system is capable of hosting clinical trials with medicines, which is a promising for many Navarrese patients”, according to the Navarrabiomed Clinical Trials Platform.
 
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La Unidad de Gestión de Navarrabiomed ha publicado hoy jueves, 22 de diciembre la relación provisional y definitiva de personas admitidas y excluidas del Programa de ayudas Navarrabiomed 2022 para cada una de las convocatorias: ayuda predoctoral y ayuda postdoctoral. Puede consultar y descargar a continuación la documentación correspondiente.