Two researchers in the BIST Community, Zaida Álvarez Pinto from IBEC and Maria Macias from IRB Barcelona, have been selected in the 2025 edition of the “la Caixa” Foundation’s Health Research call for proposals. The projects will focus, respectively, on testing treatments for spinal cord injuries and developing new treatments for the rare disease Myhre syndrome.
Zaida Álvarez Pinto from IBEC (left) and Maria Macias from IRB Barcelona (right) receive funding through the 2025 “la Caixa” Foundation Health Research call for proposals
The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) have been selected to lead two of 34 cutting-edge biomedical research projects through the 2025 edition of the “la Caixa” Foundation’s Health Research call for proposals. This call aims to identify and promote promising initiatives of scientific excellence with potential value and social impact in basic, clinical, or translational research.
The projects will be led by Zaida Álvarez Pinto, who leads IBEC’s Biomaterials for Neural Regeneration group, and Maria Macias, ICREA Professor and head of the Structural Characterization of Macromolecular Assemblies lab at IRB Barcelona. The awards ceremony was hosted at the CosmoCaixa Science Museum this week, which was attended by various representatives of the “la Caixa” Foundation, including the Deputy Director General for Research and Grants, Àngel Font, and the Deputy General Director, Esther Planas. Also present at the ceremony was the President of the Luzón Foundation, María José Arregui, and the Vice President of Research at Breakthrough T1D, Esther Latres, in addition to the researchers leading the projects.
A new platform for testing treatments for spinal cord injuries
From left to right: Eloi Montañez, J.Alberto Moreno, Zaida Álvarez and Elena Sánchez.
Spinal cord injuries affect hundreds of thousands of people every year, often causing permanent paralysis and lifelong physical and emotional problems. Despite decades of research, effective treatments remain elusive, largely because current models do not accurately reflect human biology. This project, titled “Human Vascularized Spinal Cord Organoid Device for Drug Discovery after traumatic injury”, aims to address this issue by creating a new, human-based model for studying spinal cord injuries and testing potential treatments.
The project is led by Zaida Álvarez Pinto, and will be carried out in consortium with IDIBELL, the University of Barcelona, the National Spinal Cord Injury Hospital Foundation and the Spinal Cord Injury Foundation. The researchers involved are developing miniature human spinal cords (organoids), which are grown from stem cells and combined with vascular organoids in order to better mimic real tissue. These organoids are placed in a specially designed, 3D-printed device that uses a computer-controlled force system to simulate injuries. This design enables accurate and repeatable studies of how spinal cord injuries occur and how they manifest in tissue.
Commenting on this new scientific challenge, Zaida Álvarez Pinto emphasises that “This project is particularly significant for me and my team as it enables us to implement an idea that we have been developing for years: the necessity of creating highly representative human models to improve our understanding of spinal cord injuries and develop more effective therapies. It is an extraordinary opportunity to integrate technology, human biology, and years of knowledge in neural regeneration into a single platform with real potential for clinical impact.”
New treatments for a rare disease: Myhre syndrome
Dr. Macias at the awards ceremony at CosmoCaixa. © The ”la Caixa” Foundation
Myhre Syndrome is a rare, incurable genetic disease that affects children. Although it is known to be caused by mutations in a gene that plays a crucial role in cellular signalling, there is currently no effective treatment. Existing therapeutic options are limited to symptom management, and these symptoms often worsen, leading to complications such as heart defects, intellectual disability, and respiratory problems.
Dr. Macias’ team has already identified promising compounds that act on the defective gene and modulate its abnormal function. Now, working alongside researchers from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) on this new project, the team plans to identify new compounds which will then be tested in cellular models, including cells derived from patients, with the goal of developing effective treatments.
This project will shed light on Myhre Syndrome and offer hope to patients and their families by developing innovative treatments that address the underlying cause of the disorder and improve the quality of life for people living with the disease.
