Vall d´Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR)

This fellowship must be completed not later than November 2024

VHIR  is a public-sector institution that promotes and develops the research, innovation and biosanitary teaching of the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital inside Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus. Through the excellence of their research, they identify and apply new solutions to the health problems of society contributing to spread them around the world.

Research proposals

• The Drug Delivery & Targeting (DDT) group works on the development, testing and validation of new therapeutic and diagnostic strategies based on nanotechnology, with which to provide solutions to clinical needs not covered in the fields of oncology and some rare diseases. In short, it is about generating new scientific / biomedical knowledge that can be translated efficiently into clinical practice. In addition, the group has a technological platform included within the ICTS Nanbiosis, one of the Singular Scientific Technological Infrastructures of the Spanish Council for Science Policy, Technology and Innovation (MINECO), receiving FEDER funds. As such, FVPR offers through Nanbiosis’ Unit 18 (Nanotoxicology Unit) and Unit 20 (In vivo experimentation Unit) specialized preclinical in vitro and in vivo assays for research groups and biotech companies, testing new biomedical applications based on nanotechnology.
• Translational Research in Child and Adolescent Cancer (Dr Yeste y Dr.Lucas Moreno) The Group for Translational Research into Childhood and Adolescent Cancer is focused on research for new treatment targets or molecule targets (the place in the organism a drug acts on), based on the most advanced knowledge available on the biology of paediatric cancers. The Group has identified and will continue to work on new molecular targets for sarcomas (cancer that originates in connective tissue cells) and tumours of the Paseo de la Castellana, 144 – 28046 Madrid | T. +34 914 570 945 | mujeresporafrica.es 9 nervous system. The group applies the knowledge acquired from basic research to the prevention and treatment of clinical cases in childhood cancer and haematological diseases, which contributes to better diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and control of such diseases.
• Cardiac Surgery and Pediatric Cardiology Service (Dr. Rosés) The Cardiac Surgery and Pediatric Cardiology Service of Vall d’Hebron has participated in more than one hundred research projects. Among the research carried out are the study of the neurological repercussions of fetuses and newborns with congenital heart disease; new cardiac surgery techniques; the program in interventional and pediatric hemodynamics with the use of new devices for percutaneous treatment; the development of new drugs for heart failure and severe pulmonary arterial hypertension and of new ventricular assist devices for treatment bridging cardiac transplantation; the creation of a home monitoring system for children with heart disease and the development of new imaging techniques with cardiac echocardiography. In addition, in the field of genetic studies, the service participate in international research on hereditary diseases of the aorta and hereditary heart diseases with risk of sudden death.
• HIV Translational Laboratory (Dra Buzón) The HIV Translational Laboratory is focused on the characterization of the latent HIV reservoir and the development of new therapeutic strategies directed to deplete this latent reservoir with the ultimate goal of curing HIV. The lab is located within the Infectious Disease unit of the Vall d´Hebrón Hospital, and has access to clinical samples of more than 2100 HIV-infected patients. The priority research lines are: i) Understanding the viral mechanisms involved in the long-term maintenance of viral latency, ii) Assessing the impact of new drugs to purge the latent reservoir, iii) Exploring new synergistic approaches to deplete the latent reservoir with bi-specific nanoparticles, and iv) Targeting specific sites of viral replication. Moreover, we are working with samples from SARS-CoV-2 infected patients in two different lines of research: i) identification of repurposing drugs using lung tissue models, and ii) predicting long-term immunity.