The alliance between hospital and research institutions in the Catalan capital has led to the creation of the Barcelona Alzheimer Hub. The Pasqual Maragall Foundation; the Vall d'Hebron, Clínic, Sant Pau and del Mar hospitals, and the Barcelonaßeta Brain Research Center and Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona have joined forces to create this new center, with the aim of making it an international reference for research into this disease and other neurodegenerative pathologies.
The center aspires to position the city as a hub for research and innovation in this field. It will do so through collaboration between the public and private sectors to attract investment, promote scientific excellence, and facilitate the training and dissemination of knowledge.
The new hub has emerged in the city as a pioneering initiative that comes at a "unique moment" given the forecast of an increase in cases in the coming years, as highlighted by the director of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Arcadi Navarro. In fact, the current figure of 130,000 Alzheimer's patients in Catalonia could double or triple in the next century: "It is a tsunami that is coming and a structural pandemic that we can foresee."
Specifically, in Catalonia there are more than 1.5 million people over 65 years old, as recalled by the Minister of Health, Olga Pané. "Sustaining this universality forces us to cooperate between the public and private sectors," she stressed, and highlighted that the Catalan health cluster invoices 23,000 million euros annually, while the care sector reaches 40,000 million.
In this context, Barcelona wants to take a step forward in research, and this new center will be key for the city to "gain speed" in research and innovation against Alzheimer's, according to the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni.
To promote this research, the hub will promote collaborative research among member centers with the call for predoctoral scholarships. In addition, it will generate synergies between the members of the hub and the brain tissue bank, and will promote international conferences in the field of Alzheimer's, as well as research and networking days and training programs, all with the aim of promoting research and positioning Barcelona as a reference in this field.
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