Biomedical research, human evolution, Antarctic pollution, and the stars of the Milky Way are the subjects of the 8 runner up research projects for the Vanguardia Science Award. Among them are three projects led by researchers from the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB): Vanessa Villalba from the Institute for Evolutionary Biology (IBE: CSIC-UPF); Elena Bosch from IBE and the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University (MELIS-UPF), along with Rubén Vicente from MELIS-UPF; and Clara Menéndez and Raquel González from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal).
The award, organized by the La Vanguardia group and the Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation, is celebrating its 13th edition this year. Voting is open to the general public until October 20, and the 3 most-voted projects will be awarded in a public ceremony on November 27 at La Pedrera. The jury, composed of experts in research and science communication, selected the finalists from over 90 candidates.
Vanesa Villalba, principal investigator in the archaeogenomics group at IBE (CSIC-UPF), is nominated for her project on how the Iberian Peninsula became a key refuge for humans repopulating Europe after the Ice Age.
Elena Bosch, from IBE (CSIC-UPF), and Rubén Vicente from MELIS-UPF, share a nomination for their research on a Denisovan gene variant that affects zinc transport and its connection to mental health disorders. This research was one of the projects visitors could see at the OpenPRBB event last October 5th.
The final nomination is for Clara Menéndez and Raquel González from ISGlobal. Their study focused on administering malaria drugs to pregnant women in Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, Madagascar, and Mozambique. When the treatment was given within the community rather than in health centers, many more women took it. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) no longer recommends that women go to health centers for treatment.
Congratulations on being among the finalists, and best of luck!
