The Barcelona Alzheimer Hub is created to promote collaborative research on the disease

The Barcelona Alzheimer Hub, promoted by the Pasqual Maragall Foundation with the support of Barcelona City Council, is a project created to promote collaborative research and care to people and families affected by the disease.

This is a “pioneering” collaborative initiative, which was presented this Monday at a press conference in Barcelona by the Minister of Health, Olga Pane; the mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni; the director of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Arcadi Navarro, and the medical director of Ace Alzheimer, Mercè Boada.

The new Barcelona hub has with the participation of 4 hospitals of the city (Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, ​​Hospital del Mar and Hospital Vall d’Hebron) and 2 centers specialized in Alzheimer’s research: the BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center (BBRC) and the Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona.

At the event, the director of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation signed the document that formalizes the creation of the Hub, Arcadi Navarro; the director of Ace Alzheimer Center, Look Jone; the manager of the Hospital del Mar, Jaume Raventós; the medical director of Clínic Barcelona, ​​Raquel Sánchez; the manager of Vall d’Hebron, Albert Salazarand the managing director of the Sant Pau Hospital, Adrià Comella.

Pané highlighted that it is an “experience of cooperation and coalition in favor of patients”, and explained that this neurodegenerative disease and other dementias also have an impact on the affected person’s family.

“We must value research and transfer it,” said Pané, who recalled that It is necessary to prepare Catalonia to ensure its sustainability in the face of population aging expected in the coming decades.

Collboni has explained that, so that This disease “is not invincible, all efforts must be combined”which is why he highlighted that the Hub will be a space that promotes and accelerates research and innovation on Alzheimer’s through public and private centers.

He has stated that Barcelona is a “city of science”, which occupies the 6th position in the world in publications about Alzheimer’s and other dementiasand highlighted that there are 6 scientific hubs, 6 technology parks, 8 universities, 8 hospitals with research institutes and 80 scientific centers in the metropolitan region of Barcelona.

Navarro has highlighted the “paradigm change” in the approach to Alzheimer’s research with advances such as the identification of biomarkers more accessible that allow the disease to be detected earlier and more accurately.

He has also alluded to biological therapies such as the drug, lecanemab, recently approved in Europe by the European Medicines Agency, and has assured that the Hub will guarantee joint work to “building a world without Alzheimer’s”.

The Hub will be responsible for sponsoring international conferences on Alzheimer’s and, with the participation of the Catalan Health Servicefrom the organization of conferences on ‘Challenges and opportunities in the implementation of biological therapies for Alzheimer’s’.

Among the “key” actions of the Hub will also be the promotion of collaborative research among the member centers with the call for predoctoral scholarships and a networking day “to give visibility to young talent” in the field of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

In addition, they plan to promote “synergies” through an inventory of resources in the Hub centers and the boost of a brain tissue bankand will develop training programs in collaboration with the Catalan Society of Family and Community Medicine (Camfic) to improve Alzheimer’s management in primary care.

Alzheimer’s and neurodegenerative diseases affect around 900,000 people in Spain, between 115,000 and 130,000 of them in Cataloniaand represent “one of the main causes of mortality, disability and dependency.”