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Several researchers of TecnATox will participate at the II Biology Conference of the Territorial Section of Southern Catalonia of the Catalan Society of Biology (SCB-CS), whose objective is to make researchers and society aware of the diversity of biological research that is being carried out in in the counties of Tarragona, and open a space for debate and exchange between biology professionals. The aim of the SCB-CS is to integrate the large community of biologists, biotechnologists and biochemists, as well as specialists in the different fields of biomedicine in their activities.
This second day aims to provide an overview of one of the backbones of the research carried out by biologists in southern Catalonia, in the Tarragona region: human nutrition. In particular, we want to focus on one of the aspects that are emerging strongly in the field of nutrition and is the role that the microbiome plays on general health, on the functioning of the immune system, on the evolution of metabolic diseases. such as diabetes or the development of cognitive loss processes.
Details of the workprogram, as well as the list of speakers, are summarized in the file below. Registrations can be done at https://scb.iec.cat/ii-jornada-de-biologia-de-la-catalunya-sud/
In March 2022, GRUPO DIH has updated the ranking of best scientists residing in Spain, according to their h-index. Prof. José L. Domingo is still listed as the best scientist in the area of Toxicology, with an h-index of 77. In turn, he has been also identified as one of the top 10 researchers in the area of Environmental Sciences.
As a novelty, Dr. Martí Nadal has been included in the list of best scientists in the area of Environmental Sciences, accounting 192 published articles and an h-index of 43.
Dr. Montse Marquès has been awarded with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Postdoctoral Fellowship. She will be working on “The Chemical Exposome of Pregnant Women” (MANGO) at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health (United States) under the supervision of Prof. Ana Navas-Acien and Prof. Gary Miller for two years. Afterwards, she will perform the incoming phase at TecnATox under the supervison of Prof. Domingo.
MANGO is a follow-up of INSULIN that will allow implementing the results of the project by means of a pilot prevention programme to reduce the exposure of pregnant women to hazardous chemicals.
Researchers of TecnATox have recently published a collaborative article with a group of investigators of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto (University of São Paulo, Brazil), led by Prof. Fernando Barbosa Jr. In the article, which has been published in Science of the Total Environment, the authors analyzed the levels of bisphenols (BPs) and phthalate esters (PAEs) in toys commercialized in Brazil, estimated the migration rate into children's saliva and evaluated their daily exposure.
Prof. Marta Schuhmacher will be one of the participants in the Roundtable on women's participation in European Research and Innovation Projects, organized by the International Pre-Award Support Unit (USPIR) of Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV). The event will take place next March 21 at 11 am. Registrations can be done at https://events.urv.cat/event_detail/80223/detail/taula-rodona-sobre-la-participacio-de-les-dones-en-projectes-europeus-de-recerca-i-innovacio.html
The project PETRO-FERTYL (Impacte del complex petroquímic de Tarragona en l’exposició a metalls i la infertilitat masculina) has received the Xavi Catà Grant, promoted by El Morell City Council. PETRO-FERTYL, which is perfomed in the framework of LED-FERTYL, is led by Dr. Montse Marquès and part of the PhD thesis of Ms. Elena Sánchez.
How does environmental toxicants affect male fertility? This is one of the questions which will be addressed within the LedFertyl (Lifestyle and environmental determinantes of seminogramas and other male fertility related parameters), a collaborative investigation carried out within the "Rovira i Virgili" University by researchers of the Human Nutrition Unit and TecnATox.
The research team is recruiting 200 volunteers, men between 18 and 40 years of reproductive age. Interested people can send an email to ledfertyl.nutricio@urv.cat indicating in the subject 'Ledfertyl Recruitment'.
As a member of the RESCOP Commission, Prof. José L. Domingo has just recently published a new article about the role of outdoor and indoor air quality in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the scientific journal Environmental Research.
Because the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for maintaining particulate matter concentrations at low levels for multiple health-related reasons, the article emphasizes the importance of adopting preventive measures and applying air purification in indoor environments, such as schools, indoor public places (restaurants, offices, hotels, museums, theatres/cinemas etc.).
RESCOP is the first Thematic Commisson on COVID-19 & Outdoor/Indoor Air Quality (RESCOP Commission), promoted by the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA) and formed by a large number of international researchers.
From the beginning of the pandemics, Prof. Domingo and other TecnATox researchers have been very active in understanding the links between indoor/outdoor exposure to air pollutants and SARS-CoV-2. This activity has led Prof. Domingo to be the URV (Universitat Rovira i Virgili) investigator with more scientific publications on SARS-CoV-2, according to Scopus database.
