The two CERCA centres in the city of Lleida, Agrotecnio and the Institut de Recerca Biomèdica de Lleida (IRBLleida), are launching the second joint call for research projects in Agriculture, Food, Nutrition and Health: AgroHealth 2024. Agrohealth is an innovative initiative within the framework of the network of Research Centres in Catalonia through which both centres, with their own funds, combine their research capacity to develop collaborative projects that combine agri-food with biomedical research to improve health and wellbeing.
This Friday, 24 May, at 9:45 am, IRBLleida will host a conference to present the results of the previous call and to encourage research staff from both centres to get to know each other so that collaborations can arise for the next edition. Around twenty researchers are expected to meet to introduce themselves and look for synergies that could be converted into future projects.
With a total budget of €135,000, AgroHealth 2024 will select three projects that will address unmet medical needs, such as obesity, diabetes, the interaction between nutrients and drugs or genes, or the development of new foods and ingredients, among other topics. At least one research group from Agrotecnio and one from IRBLleida will participate in each project, with the aim of maintaining the collaboration once the project is completed.
The second edition of AgroHealth comes after the success of the 2022 call, which resulted in three projects now nearing completion:
“Technological feasibility and toxicological study of a biotransformation strategy to reduce patulin in apple juice“, which aims to reduce the mycotoxin patulin in apple juice, led by Agrotecnio-UdL researcher Inmaculadas Viñas and IR Lleida-UdL researcher José Serrano.
“Weaning pigs: an animal model to solve iron deficiency anaemia based on biotechnologically modified yeast“, led by IRBLleida-UdL researcher Ángeles de la Torre and Agrotecnio-UdL researcher Gabriel de la Fuente. This project analyses how to increase the sustainability and welfare of pigs while finding a sustainable and probiotic model to reduce iron deficiency anaemia in humans.
Finally, the project “Design of functional foods with active ingredients with potential anti-obesity properties” is led by researchers Gemma Bellí, from IRBLleida-UdL, and Olga Martín, from Agrotecnio-UdL. It focuses on evaluating the effects of the consumption of active ingredients of dietary fibres and structures containing b-carotene on the modulation of the intestinal microbiota and inflammatory markers associated with obesity.
Through AgroHealth, the two CERCA centres in Lleida aim to create lasting synergies between their groups, which will then be able to apply for more ambitious national and international calls for proposals. To participate, research staff must hold a doctorate, have a scientific or technical background consistent with the proposed project and be assigned or have applied for assignment before the deadline to Agrotecnio or IRBLleida.
The application period will open from 3 to 21 June, and the final decision is expected to be published in December 2024. Projects may have a maximum duration of two years and will start in January 2025.
If any media is interested in coming to the conference at IRBLleida on Friday, please contact communication@agrotecnio.udl.cat