This document provides an overview of IRB Barcelona, a biomedical research institute. It discusses the institute's mission to conduct multidisciplinary research at the forefront of biomedicine. Examples are given of recent research findings, including using immunotherapy to treat colon cancer, how circadian rhythms impact aging, and developing a nano-carrier drug delivery system. Facts and figures about IRB Barcelona are presented, noting its designation as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence and research awards/grants received. Infrastructure needs like high-bandwidth internet connections are also mentioned to support processing large datasets from core facilities.

1. IRB Barcelona
at a glance
The medicine of the future
starts here
Ramon Roca-Sastre
June 2019

2. To conduct multidisciplinary
research of excellence at the
forefront of biomedicine.
Research
Mission
26 Research Groups

3. Eduard Batlle
Researchers pave the way to the use of
immunotherapy to treat aggressive colon tumors
• Batlle’s laboratory discovered
that immune system-stimulating
treatments combined with a
TGF-beta inhibitor are effective
against colon cancer and their
metastasis
14 Feb 2018
Research challenges: Cancer Science

4. • A low-calorie diet delays
alterations in the rhythmic
functions of stem cells and
slows down ageing.
Salvador Aznar Benitah Lab
discovered that ageing is exacerbated by alterations
of stem cell circadian rhythm
10 Aug 2017
Research challenges: Aging and Metabolism

5. • IRB Barcelona scientists have
designed a drug encapsulation
system that selectively targets
senescent cells to eliminate
them in many diseases, such
as pulmonary fibrosis and
cancer.
Manuel Serrano
Researchers design a nano-carrier to release drugs
into damaged cells
26 Jul 2018
Research challenges: Aging and Metabolism

6. Facts and figures
Renewed excellence

7. Facts and Figures 2017

8. Renowned excellence
 First and second round Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence
awardee.
 13 European Research Council grant awardees (18 awards)
(7 AdG, 3 CoG, 3 StG, 5 PoC) (current situation: 8 on-going, 2 GA
in process)
 9 FP7 Cooperation Projects (2 as coordinator). (current
situation: 0 on-going)
 7 H2020 Cooperation projects (2 as coordinator). (current
situation: 6 on-going; 1 GA in process)
 2 COST Actions (1 as Coordinator). (current situation: 2 on-going)
 4 COFUND Programme grants. (current situation: 2 on-going)
 3 ITN (current situation: 2 on-going)
 2 NIH Programme grants (current situation: 1 on-going)
 14 ICREA Research Professors + 2 ICREA Academia grants.
 2 AECC cooperation grants (1 as coordinator) + 3 AECC
individual grants (current situation: all on-going)
 Narcís Monturiol Plaque awardee.
 HR Excellence in Research.

9. ITS Infrastructure
Starlife (BSC-CRG-IRB)

10. ITS Infrastructure

11. Anella científica
• Our scientists need to:
– Transfer big quantites of data to other research
centers
– Download big datasets from Internet for using
them in their workloads @IRB HPC Clusters
– Transfer quickly data to the cloud for using them
in Cloud IAAS workloads

12. Anella científica
• ITS wants to:
– Archive & Backup data to the Cloud
– Use Cloud IAAS Services (AWS, Azure..)
– Provide better user experience

13. Whats next?
• More bandwith! In the near future, our
Microscopy Core facility will use a S-CMOS
Camera that generate 10’s Tbytes. Request is
to have 10 gbps connection to write raw data
directly in PIC repository, in order HPC PIC
servers can directly process data.
It’s a Big Challenge to do this with actual
resources.

14. The medicine of the future starts here!
We address
fundamental
biological
questions to
provide
groundbreaking
solutions to
unmet medical
needs.