Foreword

It is my pleasure to present this Annual Report, which details the activities carried out by the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra during 2024. As a university department, MELIS is entrusted by society with performing research at the forefront of the biomedical sciences and with sharing our knowledge with the community at large through teaching and outreach activities. It is a fascinating and challenging duty, which the professionals of MELIS at all levels (academic, administration, and management) undertake daily with admirable enthusiasm and commitment, which you will see reflected on these pages, and which I would like to acknowledge here. It is a joy to work with such a devoted team of colleagues.

2024 was the 26th year of MELIS’ life, which is devoted to contributing to an integrative understanding of biomedical phenomena at all scales, from molecules to populations. This wide-ranging goal is a distinctive feature of our department and drives interdisciplinary collaborations across our research groups and programs. This year saw the birth of a new organization of our research programs, now focusing on four large pillars: (1) molecules, genes, and cells; (2) biology of disease; (3) populations and ecosystems; and (4) systems biology and biomedical engineering. In 2024, we also welcomed a new group leader, Javier Santos, who has established the Synthetic Cell Programming lab.

The year culminated in the achievement of a third Maria de Maeztu excellence award, an accomplishment that only a small number of university departments in Spain have reached. Our research has also been recognized in 2024 with three awards from the European Research Council (a Starting Grant, an Advanced Grant, and a Synergy grant), and by multiple high-impact international projects, including the coordination of a large-scale European collaboration under the Innovative Health Initiative, an EU public-private partnership funding health research and innovation. We have also experienced a qualitative leap, driven in part by collaboration with industrial partners, in the infrastructure of our flow cytometry core facility, a shared endeavor with the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG), with which we are co-located at the Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona (PRBB).

As mentioned above, our dedication to research excellence is intrinsically linked to our pivotal role in the transfer of knowledge and the shaping of future professionals. Within the UPF Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, MELIS delivers undergraduate degrees in Biomedical Sciences, Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, and participates in inter-university collaborations offering BSc degrees in Bioinformatics and Human Nutrition and Dietetics. Furthermore, we offer diverse Master’s degrees in key areas such as Biomedical Research, Bioinformatics for Health Sciences, Pharmaceutical Industry and Biotechnology, Public Health, and Secondary Education. We also have a long-standing partnership with the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), which enhances our academic portfolio with a pioneering joint Master’s in Multidisciplinary Research in Experimental Sciences. Moreover, our PhD Programme in Biomedicine attracts and cultivates exceptional researchers, which substantially enriches our dynamic research environment. Together, this active engagement in teaching fosters valuable scholarly interactions among faculty, which in turn inform our interdisciplinary research endeavors.
Finally, our presence at the PRBB fosters strong collaborative ties with prominent research institutes, including the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), EMBL Barcelona, the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), and the Fundació Pasqual Maragall. It is a privilege to belong to this biomedical research ecosystem.

Prof. Jordi García Ojalvo
Director