GSK shows interest in eight UB research projects for its DPAc programme
Following the presentation of the Discovery Partnership with Academia (DPAc) programme, attended by some fifty researchers of the University of Barcelona, the Barcelona Science Park, and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), representatives of Glaxo SmithKline (GSK) held several meetings with research staff of the University of Barcelona to learn about their innovative projects.
In January, the FBG invited the research staff of the University of Barcelona to present projects involving an identified therapeutic target that could be applied to the treatment of a disease. Fifteen projects were presented, and GSK selected eight of them to discuss the proposals: four from the Faculty of Medicine (led by Dr. Vanessa Soto-Cerrato, Dr. Xavier Gasull, Dr. Albert Giralt, and Dr. Josep Maria Grinyó), and four from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science (led by Dr. Laura Herrero, Dr. Carmen Escolano, Dr. Manuel Vázquez, and Dr. Carlos J. Ciudad).
Semra Kitchen, a Discovery Partnership Leader from GSK’s DPAc programme, assessed the visit of the British pharmaceutical company as follows: “We had a very interesting and productive day at the FBG. We maintained some very stimulating scientific discussions with UB researchers about their biological innovations and we hope that this will be the beginning of a continuous dialogue about opportunities for collaboration”.