The latest edition of La Marató de 3Cat raised 10 million euros, which will fund 36 research projects on respiratory diseases led by 60 research teams. In Catalonia, these conditions affect more than two million people and are the second leading cause of hospital admissions and the third leading cause of death. However, they remain largely unknown and underdiagnosed.
In the 2024 edition, 94 projects were submitted and evaluated by 93 international experts in the field, who assessed them based on their quality, methodology and relevance. The evaluation process was managed by the Agency for Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS), part of the Catalan Ministry of Health. Of the 36 projects funded, 20 are individual projects, while 16 are coordinated by two or more research centres.
The results of this call were published yesterday, Thursday, 6 November.
List of projects awarded funding in the 2024 edition of La Marató linked to the University of Barcelona
"Translating candidate causal genes in human respiratory disease using Drosophila melanogaster"
- Sofía Jorge de Moura Míguez Araujo, from the UB's Faculty of Biology; Marios Georgiou, from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom), and Ian Sayers, from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom)
- Funding: €399,999
"Towards a broadly applicable class of anti-influenza virus agents acting as dual binding site inhibitors of the viral hemagglutinin"
- Francisco Javier Luque Garriga, from the UB's Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, and Lieve Naesens, from KU Leuven (Belgium)
- Funding: €299,875
"Inhibiting respiratory virus fusion with anti-amyloid compounds: From proof-of-concept to pandemic preparedness"
- Raimon Sabaté Lagunas, from the UB's Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences
- Funding: €200,000
"Identification of key molecules with antifibrotic effects from the secretome of alveolar type II cells for the development of new therapies for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis"
- Pedro Melgar-Lesmes, from the UB's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Anna Serrano-Mollar, from the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona (IIBB-CSIC)
- Funding: €299,851
Other projects related to the University of Barcelona's research environment
"Evidence-based decisions for pneumonia prevention in Sierra Leone: a study on viral clinical severe pneumonia in African children"
- Azucena Bardají Alonso, from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), and Mohamed Samai, from the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS) at the University of de Sierra Leone
- Funding: €299,999
"DUAL-PAH: Synergistic targeting of TGF-β and cGMP-PKG to reverse vascular remodeling in pulmonary arterial hypertension"
- Isabel Blanco Vich, from Clínic Barcelona Research Foundation - August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), and Víctor Ivo Peinado Cabré, from the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona (IIBB-CSIC)
- Funding: €299,999
"Impact of vaping (e-cigarettes) on the (epi)genome of adult users"
- Manel Esteller Badosa, from the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute
- Funding: €200,000
"Combined effectiveness of antibiotics and bacteriophages for personalized treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa"
- Laia Fernández Barat, from Clínic Barcelona Research Foundation - August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS).
- Funding: €199,993
"Smoke-Free Homes intervention to improve children's respiratory health: an effectiveness and implementation study in primary care paediatric services"
- Marcela Fu Balboa, from the Catalan Institute of Oncology - Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (ICO-IDIBELL), and Pere Toran Montserrat, from the University Insitute in Primary Care Research Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAP Jordi Gol)
- Funding: €299,982
"Stick your tongue out at tuberculosis: Evaluation of tongue swabs for TB diagnosis among household contacts"
- Alberto García Basteiro, from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal); Sozinho Acácio, from the Mozambican Manhiça Health Research Centre (CISM), and Antoni Noguera Julián, from the Sant Joan de Déu Research Foundation.
- Funding: €399,775
"Advancing microbiological approach for the treatment of chronic pulmonary infections caused by Mycobacterium avium complex and mycobacteroides abscessus complex"
- Julià González Martín, from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
- Funding: €196,005
"Anticipation of respiratory outcomes in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) treated with high-flow nasal cannula using omics and clinical data (CNAFOMICS)"
- Joan Ramon Masclans Enviz, from Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), and Santiago Marco Colás, from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC)
- Funding: €299,274
"Epigenetic profiles and environmental exposome in radon-associated lung cancer: The REXPIRE Study"
- Laura Mezquita Pérez, from Clínic Barcelona Research Foundation - August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS)
- Funding: €189,544
