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20/10/2026 - Institutional news

Making a match for science!

Fourteen pairs of professionals from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and Hospital del Mar came together on 19 October for Translational Matchmaking, an initiative aimed at exploring new avenues for collaboration between HMRIB researchers and healthcare professionals from the hospital.

Where can science and healthcare professionals meet to share needs and, perhaps, develop projects together? At Translational Matchmaking, an initiative of the Impact Department at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute (HMRIB), in collaboration with the Innovation Unit at Hospital del Mar, held on 19 October at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB).

Taking part provided an opportunity to "discover people with similar or complementary interests, but, beyond that, to identify opportunities for collaboration between them and give rise to new research projects that can help people", explains Ismael Ávila, Head of the HMRIB Impact Department. Both researchers from the Institute and healthcare professionals from the hospital took part, forming fourteen pairs who were able to share objectives and find potential partners for future projects.

One such pairing brought together Sílvia Castany, a researcher with the HMRIB Cellular Mechanisms in Physiological and Pathological Behaviour Research Group, and Dr Pablo Villoslada, Head of the Neurology Department at Hospital del Mar. Their meeting led to a potential collaboration to jointly explore researchers' findings on how the brain's immune response is regulated and its possible role in depression.

The event was organised into several rounds of 25-minute face-to-face meetings between pairs of participants. The meetings were arranged in advance by the team responsible for the project, with the aim of "finding connections between profiles with shared interests, complementary expertise or common challenges", according to Eduard Soler, Head of the Innovation Projects Unit at Hospital del Mar.

This initiative forms part of the strategy of the Impact Department at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, promoted through its Public Engagement and Science Communication area, with the aim of fostering connections between professionals, creating spaces for exchange and promoting new opportunities for collaboration. Translational Matchmaking is one of the initiatives launched by the Department to bring research closer to clinical practice, foster interdisciplinarity and promote knowledge translation, thereby helping to generate a real impact on people's health and society.

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