ISGlobal Celebrates its Annual Scientific Meeting with a Fruitful Day of Debate and Participation

ISGlobal's Annual Scientific Meeting took place on Monday 11 December at the CosmoCaixa in Barcelona, with almost 200 attendees. The event, organised by ISGlobal researchers Sara Soto and Xavier Rodó, highlighted the potential of the research carried out at the institution and its impact on global health.

"In this year's edition, we wanted to encourage the participation of young people from our institution and promote debate on high-impact topics such as the exposome, artificial intelligence, the link between climate change and infectious diseases, and the relationship between antibiotic resistance and the microbiome," said the organisers.

The first debate focused on the future of malaria and arboviral diseases such as dengue and chikungunya in the context of the climate crisis. ISGlobal researchers Mikel Martínez and Quique Bassat noted that climate change may contribute to the worsening of the malaria situation in the world and that it is therefore necessary to include the climate factor in malaria control models. They also highlighted that some estimates suggest that there is already a high burden of arboviral diseases in Africa and that a better understanding of the situation is needed to know whether climate change will affect these diseases.

Jordi Vila and Mireia Gascón then discussed the gut microbiota and its links to the exposome, highlighting the need for more studies in humans, especially at younger ages, to better understand how factors such as diet, lifestyle, pollution, and medications affect the microbiota. They also stressed the importance of reducing the unnecessary use of antibiotics, which alter the gut microbiota.

The third session, led by Manolis Kogenivas, researcher at ISGlobal, and Jaume Mora, Scientific Director of Oncology at the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona, explored the importance of prevention in adult cancers and how external and environmental factors influence their development, while in the case of childhood cancers, genetics plays a central role.

The final debate focused on the advances and functionalities of artificial intelligence. Alfonso Valencia, from the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, and Josep M. Ganyet, from the University of Pompeu Fabra, showed examples of creations using artificial intelligence and debated the ethical controversies surrounding its use. Both defended the importance of the human presence in validating and guiding AI and ensuring the quality of its response.

During the scientific meeting, Principal Investigators, Predoctoral Fellows and Postdoctoral Fellows presented ISGlobal's new projects in infectious diseases, environment and urban health. The meeting also highlighted the most important scientific results recently published by the different ISGlobal programmes, ranging from the impact of climate on zoonotic diseases to the prevention of malaria and the study of the exposome in the early years of life.

Driving social change through science

The afternoon session focused on the impact of research. Julie Bayley, from the University of Lincoln in the UK, debunked some of the myths surrounding the concept, such as that it only happens after scientific publication or that it cannot be planned. "Impact is a team sport within an organisation. We can do a lot by explaining our research and building trust in society," said Bayley.

ISGlobal's Director General, Antoni Plasència, closed the day with an emotional speech in which he defended and celebrated the "science with heart" that ISGlobal does and thanked all the members of the institution for their commitment and their "infinite curiosity to discover and understand, to take risks and to innovate". After nine years as Director General of ISGlobal, Antoni Plasència will be replaced by Quique Bassat next January.