August 5th, 2025 - Press release
70% of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) cases go undiagnosed. Now, a study led by Hospital del Mar and the Hospital del Mar Research Institute has validated ten metabolites that are altered in patients with this disease.
These metabolites can be identified through a simple blood test, which opens the door to their use in future population-based screening for suspected COPD.
The study used artificial intelligence tools to determine which of these molecules yielded the most accurate results.
July 31st, 2025 - Press release
Study Published in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease
This is indicated by the results of the PENSA study, a clinical trial conducted jointly by the Research Institute of Hospital del Mar and the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center, the research center of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation. The study concludes that combining a healthy lifestyle program with epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a natural compound found in green tea, could offer sustained cognitive benefits in people at high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Over the course of one year, around one hundred cognitively healthy volunteers, but in stages potentially prior to the onset of dementia, were monitored. They were divided into three groups. One group received only healthy lifestyle advice. The other two groups underwent a lifestyle improvement intervention program combined with either EGCG or placebo. Almost half of the participants who received the lifestyle program combined with EGCG improved their cognition, compared to 30% of those in the lifestyle program combined with the placebo group. These cognitive benefits in the EGCG group were maintained after the treatment ended. The study also highlights the effect of following a healthy lifestyle. Compared to participants who only received healthy lifestyle advice, those who completed the full intervention program improved their cognition up to 4.5 times more if they took EGCG, and up to 3 times more if they took placebo. Furthermore, both intervention groups reduced the risk of developing dementia by approximately 25%.July 25th, 2025 - Press release
Researchers from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and Yale University, in the United States, have demonstrated how the action of certain genes on precursor cells of brain formation can cause alterations linked to cortical malformations but also to the origin of neuropsychiatric diseases such as autism or bipolar disorder.
The study, published in Nature Communications, is the first of its kind. It has been able to simulate the function of a list of nearly 3,000 genes linked to these pathologies during human brain development.
The work opens a window to understand the origin of these diseases and to develop treatment opportunities through gene therapy.
July 16, 2025 - Press release
These molecules act as small building blocks that regulate the cellular response by switching certain internal signals on or off.
This is the conclusion of an international study led by the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, published in the journal Nature Communications.
The findings may help develop more precise drugs to treat various diseases more effectively, while avoiding side effects.
May 27th, 2025 - Press release
A joint project between the three research institutions has been selected for funding by the XPRIZE Foundation of the United States. It will receive $250,000 to demonstrate that it is possible to extend human healthy lifespan.
The VITA project proposes combining two existing molecules and a multimodal lifestyle intervention to extend quality of life during aging.
The team formed by the three institutions now has one year to provide the first preliminary results and move on to a new stage of the awards, where the efficacy of the proposed new therapy will be assessed.
February 20th, 2025 - Press release
Researchers identify predictive markers of response to immunotherapy treatment in a study involving data from over 700 patients across six different cohorts, published in Nature Communications.
The study has significant relevance, impacting the management of bladder cancer patients. Machine learning tools enabled the identification of key variables for the success of immunotherapy treatment.
This innovative methodology has allowed researchers to pinpoint which tumor subtypes respond best to immunotherapy.
October 28th, 2022 - Press release
This is a study cohort comprising 200,000 people, which will be used to study and improve the health of the Spanish population. Dr. Jordi Alonso, head of the Health Services Research Group at the IMIM-Hospital del Mar, is a member of the project's executive committee, which has just completed its first year of work.
June 15 th, 2021 - Press release
On June 15th and 16th, the STOPSTORM consortium coordinated by the UMC Utrecht with the IMIM and Hospital del Mar's participation, met virtually to discuss early project progress. The project, which officially started on May 1st, will begin researching the use of radiotherapy in treating cardiac arrhythmias. Patients who suffer from ventricular tachycardia (fibrillation of the ventricles) are often treated with medication and/or implantation of an ICD, a defibrillator that corrects a rapid heart rate with an electric shock. In cases of persistent arrhythmias that do not respond adequately to regular therapy, patients may undergo invasive catheter ablation.
July 14th 2020 - Press release
The results of the study, published in Nature Methods, may facilitate the development of new drugs related to diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's. The new tool provides access to a large number of atomic-level simulations, the most basic, of the behaviour of a crucial element in almost all human physiological responses. This work is the result of a study by a consortium of international research centres led by scientists at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, in collaboration with Pompeu Fabra University and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, and with the support of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
June 3rd 2020 - Press release
This is a pioneering Data Analytics project in Spain, which will enable us to increase our knowledge of the evolution of COVID-19 and its interaction with patients with other pathologies based on the analysis of discharge reports. The initiative is the result of collaboration between Hospital del Mar, the technology company Bismart and Ferrer Laboratory and uses the artificial intelligence tool Bismart Folksonomy. In less than a month, a project has been launched with more than 34,000 hospital and emergency room discharges, 2,700 of which correspond to COVID-19 patients. This will allow an in-depth analysis of their evolution and the relationship of the infection with other basic pathologies.
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