Vall d´Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR)


Vall d´Hebron Institut de Recerca (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 lines:

Research Group of Maternal and Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics.

Is one of the largest maternity units in Catalonia and Spain. It is a tertiary referral center accredited by the European Council and the College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (EBCOG) and the European Association of Perinatal Medicine (EAPM) as a training center with 14 residents.

Key objectives:

  • Create synergies through the combined work of basic science researchers and clinical investigators in the preclinical basis of placental insufficiency complications and congenital heart disease.
  • Develop and improve advanced prediction and prevention of preterm labour.
  • Establish a pioneer detection program of congenital heart disease and chromosomal abnormalities.
  • To investigate the long-term maternal and children health impact of an adverse gestation environment (growth restriction, preeclampsia, prematurity, breast cancer in pregnancy).
  • To encourage a competitive multi-disciplinary network dedicated to the education and training of research personnel.
  • Generate value in the field of maternal and children health.

International Health

Work in the field of Tropical Medicine and International Health understood as the discipline that provides specialized assistance with a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to people with tropical diseases, which promotes teaching and translational research and the development of Community Health as well as the implementation of public health strategies, which aims to improve accessibility to quality health in our country as well as internationally, always maintaining a scientific commitment that bases the actions taken.

HIV

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. ​

Gynecology

The gynecology research group is focused on the molecular and translational research of several gynecological cancers (including and mainly those of the endometrium and ovary) and gynecological-related diseases such as endometriosis. Thanks to the close collaboration between clinicians and basic and translational researchers, their projects are focused on unresolved clinical needs. They identify and characterize new molecules, which might play relevant roles in the neoplastic cell transformation, and/or growth, progression, dissemination of those tumors and resistance to current therapies. They also work in the development of new clinical relevant tools, such as the development of new devices to improve the clinical management of the patient, and the generation of patient-derived xenografts (PDX) mouse models that are used in preclinical validation. Its aim is to identify new and valuable molecules and biomarkers to improve diagnosis, prognosis and therapy.

Amigos/as de la fundación