Francesco De Chiara | Postdoctoral Researcher
Juanma Fernandez Costa | Postdoctoral Researcher
Irene Marco Rius | Postdoctoral Researcher
Maria Alejandra Ortega Machuca | Postdoctoral Researcher
Júia Rodríguez Comas | Postdoctoral Researcher
Laura Clua Ferré | PhD Student
Xiomara Gislen Fernández Garibay | PhD Student
Ferran Velasco Mallorquí | PhD Student
Albert Garcia Castaño | Laboratory Technician
Natalia Kovaleva Dorozhkina | Masters Student
Jordina Balaguer Trias | Laboratory Assistant
Víctor Parra Monreal | Laboratory Assistant
Rodrigo Alvarez Velasco | Visiting Researcher
Luís Vicente Franco De Oliveira | Visiting Researcher
Minseong Kim | Visiting Researcher
About
Drug discovery pathway relies heavily on in vivo animal models and in vitro cell mediums. In the case of animal models we have not only some ethical problems but also the ability to extrapolate data to human conditions is limited and in vitro platforms often do not simulate the complex cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions crucial for regulating cell behaviour.

Pancreas islet stained in blue for nuclei and red for actin inside a microporous microfibrillated cellulose-gelatin scaffold stained with green.
Biosensors for bioengineering group is focused in a new line of research that has become of extreme importance in the last years. The idea is to integrate biosensor technology and nanotechnology with stem cell research and with tissue engineering. Engineered tissues are integrated with biosensing technology to obtain microdevices for detecting cellular responses to external stimuli, monitoring the quality of the microenvironment (e.g., metabolites, nutrients), and supporting diverse cellular requirements. This research on 3D-functional engineered tissues is expected to develop knowledge of tissue construction and their functions and relation with some human diseases. Integration of fully functional tissues with microscale biosensor technology allowed us to obtain “organs-on-a-chip”. These chips could be used in pharmaceutical assays and could be a step toward the ultimate goal of producing in vitro drug testing systems crucial to the medicine and pharmaceutical industry.

Engineered skeletal muscle from patients’ cells with myotonic dystrophy disease.

Human myotubes encapsulated in micropatterned hydrogel scaffold. Scale is 100 µm.
News/Jobs
Five IBEC researchers awarded “la Caixa” grants at ceremony
05/11/2018
IBEC researchers were in the limelight today at the awards ceremony for the “la Caixa” fellowships and grants for research and innovation calls.
IBEC researchers take to the stage at second BIST conference
27/06/2018
Today more than 300 researchers are meeting at CosmoCaixa to debate the latest scientific advances in cutting-edge fields at the yearly conference of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
IBEC researcher presents the state-of-the-art of advanced materials for 3D bioprinting
26/06/2018
IBEC group leader Javier Ramón presented the state-of-the-art in 3D printing of biomaterials at a workshop organised by CatalunyaBio & HealthTech last week.
It’s a wrap! – IBEC’s Faster Future campaign ends with a night at the movies
03/05/2018
To round off its first Faster Future fundraising campaign, IBEC is organizing an exclusive European film première of “I’ll Push You”, the inspiring story of Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray, the first people to complete the Camino de Santiago in a wheelchair.
Joining forces with FEDER to collaborate on solutions for rare diseases
02/02/2018
IBEC has signed a collaboration agreement with the Federación Española de Enfermedades Raras (FEDER), a non-profit organization that represents the three million people suffering from rare diseases throughout the country.
“Un músculo en un chip”
11/12/2017
Javier Ramon’s ‘muscle-on-a-chip’ that will use a patient’s own cells to study Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), the most common form of muscular dystrophy, is the subject of an article in El Periodico today.
Faster Future 2017 now open for donations
27/11/2017
The website of Faster Future, IBEC’s brand new fundraising programme, is now accepting donations.
IBEC to launch Faster Future, a new fundraising initiative, on Giving Tuesday
22/11/17
Next week IBEC will launch Faster Future, a new crowdfunding initiative that aims to help accelerate research projects that are close to tackling major challenges in health.
Finding out about diabetes approaches at IBEC’s Setmana de la Ciencia event
16/11/17
Yesterday IBEC group leader Javer Ramon presented his research on developing organ-on-a-chip to study diabetes in IBEC’s public event forming part of this year’s Setmana de la Ciència.
IBEC researcher’s ERC project highlighted in Madrid exhibition
28/03/17
This weekend Javier Ramon’s European Research Council-funded project, DAMOC, was one of eight highlighted in a special exhibition in Madrid to mark the ERC’s tenth anniversary.
ERC funding for new diabetes approach at IBEC
04/10/16
IBEC’s Dr. Javier Ramón is one of just six researchers in Catalonia to have been awarded a 2016 Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC).
Projects
EU-funded projects
‘Diabetes Approach by Multi-Organ-on-a-Chip’ (DAMOC) | ERC | Javier Ramón |
Publications
Ortega, María A., Fernández-Garibay, Xiomara, Castaño, Albert G., De Chiara, Francesco, Hernández-Albors, Alejandro, Balaguer-Trias, Jordina, Ramón-Azcón, Javier, (2019). Muscle-on-a-chip with an on-site multiplexed biosensing system for in situ monitoring of secreted IL-6 and TNF-α Lab on a Chip 19, 2568-2580
de Goede, M., Dijkstra, M., Obregón, R., Ramón-Azcón, J., Martínez, E., Padilla, L., Mitjans, F., Garcia-Blanco, S. M., (2019). Al2O3 microring resonators for the detection of a cancer biomarker in undiluted urine Optics Express 27, (13), 18508-18521
Hernández-Albors, Alejandro, Castaño, Albert G., Fernández-Garibay, Xiomara, Ortega, María Alejandra, Balaguer, Jordina, Ramón-Azcón, Javier, (2019). Microphysiological sensing platform for an in-situ detection of tissue-secreted cytokines Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X 2, 100025
García-Lizarribar, Andrea, Fernández-Garibay, Xiomara, Velasco-Mallorquí, Ferran, Castaño, Albert G., Samitier, Josep, Ramon-Azcon, Javier, (2018). Composite biomaterials as long-lasting scaffolds for 3D bioprinting of highly aligned muscle tissue Macromolecular Bioscience 18, (10), 1800167
Ino, Kosuke, Nashimoto, Yuji, Taira, Noriko, Ramón-Azcon, Javier, Shiku, Hitoshi, (2018). Intracellular electrochemical sensing Electroanalysis 30, (10), 2195-2209
de Goede, M., Chang, L., Dijkstra, M., Obregón, R., Ramón-Azcon, J., Martínez, E., Padilla, L., Adan, J., Mitjans, F., García-Blanco, S.M., (2018). Al2O3 Microresonator based passive and active biosensors ICTON 2018
20th International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks , IEEE Computer Society (Bucharest, Romania) , 8473820
de Goede, M., Chang, L., Dijkstra, M., Obregón, R., Ramón-Azcon, J., Martínez, E., Padilla, L., Adan, J., Mitjans, F., García-Blanco, S.M., (2018). Al2O3 Mmicroresonators for passive and active sensing applications Sensors 2018
Optical Sensors , OSA - The Optical Society (Zurich, Switzerland) Part F110, 1-2
Mohammadi, M. H., Obregón, R., Ahadian, S., Ramón-Azcón, J., Radisic, M., (2017). Engineered muscle tissues for disease modeling and drug screening applications
Current Pharmaceutical Design , 23, (20), 2991-3004
Obregón, R., Ramón-Azcón, J., Ahadian, S., (2017). Nanofiber composites in blood vessel tissue engineering
Nanofiber Composites for Biomedical Applications (ed. Ramalingam, M., Ramakrishna, S.), Elsevier (Duxford, UK) Woodhead Publishing Series in Biomaterials, 483-506
(See full publication list in ORCID)
Equipment
Micro and nanofabrication techniques:
- 3D microstructures on hydrogel materials
- Mini-bioreactor for 3D cell culture
- Microelectrodes fabrication
- Synthesis and chemical modification of polymers and surfaces
- Dielectrophoretic cells and micro particles manipulation
Characterization techniques:
- Optical Microscopes (white light/epifluorescence)
- Electrochemical techniques (Potentiometric/Amperometric/Impedance spectroscopy)
- Immunosensing techniques (Fluorescence ELISA/Colorimetric ELISA/magneto ELISA)
Equipment:
- Microfluidic systems (High precision syringe pumps/Peristaltic pumps/Micro valves)
- Biological safety cabinet (class II)
- Epifluorescence microscope for live-cell imaging
Access to the Nanotechnology Platform (IBEC Core Facilities): equipment for hot embossing lithography, polymer processing and photolithography, chemical wet etching, e-beam evaporation and surface characterization (TOF-SIMS)
Access to the Scientific and Technological Centers (University of Barcelona): equipment for surface analysis (XPS, AFM, XRD), organic structures characterization (NMR) and microscopy techniques (SEM, TEM, confocal)
Collaborations
- Prof. Josep Samitier
IBEC - Dr. Elena Martinez
IBEC - Dr. Anna Novials
Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) - Dr. Ramon Gomís
Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) - Dr. Eduard Montanya
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) - Prof. Enric Bertran
Physics and Engineering of Amorphous Materials and Nanostructures (FEMAN), Department of Applied Physics, University of Barcelona