Foreword

The pages that you will find in this digital booklet contain an overview of the academic activities of the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) in 2023, which I’m pleased to introduce in this foreword. Last year MELIS continued to advance in its overarching goal of understanding biomedical phenomena from an integrative perspective, from molecules to populations. This integrative character leverages the wide range of expertises required of a university department whose remit is to perform research and teaching in all areas of the biomedical sciences. We proudly consider this breadth of interests a distinctive feature of MELIS, which provides a rich scholar atmosphere that drives in a natural way interdisciplinary collaborations among our research groups and programmes, many of which you will see reflected on these pages.

A particularly important link among our researchers is our joint participation in our teaching degrees, particularly the BSc Degree in Human Biology (which will soon become a Degree in Biomedicine, reclaiming a denomination that we were not able to use when we pioneered this degree in the 1990s, in a clear example of being 20 years too early) and the new UPF Degree in Medicine (which we continue consolidating in close collaboration with the Hospital del Mar). It is undeniable that teaching together enables scholar interactions among our faculty that percolates to joint research projects that are naturally interdisciplinary. Teaching is also a natural form of knowledge transfer to society that is unique in its impact: forming future informed professionals is absolutely essential to build a society that faces the current global challenges faced by humankind, in particular those that threaten the well-being of our planet, through a rational approach to the way we live and interact with our environment. We are privileged to have our research form part of this endeavor.

Finally, before I let you delve into our accomplishments of the past year, I would like to acknowledge the excellent work of the professionals of MELIS at all levels (academic, administration, and management), whose day-to-day commitment makes possible the activities that are summarized in what follows. It is a joy to work with such a devoted team of colleagues.

Prof. Jordi García Ojalvo
Director