{"id":10102,"date":"2025-04-07T10:24:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T09:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/?p=10102"},"modified":"2025-04-07T20:47:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T19:47:30","slug":"the-great-challenges-in-health-going-beyond-the-boundaries-of-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/the-great-challenges-in-health-going-beyond-the-boundaries-of-research\/","title":{"rendered":"The great challenges in health. Going beyond the boundaries of research"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-10076\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-2048x1153.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Health also lies in vaccines and advances in immunotherapy, in improvements in the living conditions of families, mothers and newborns, and in the search for cures for Alzheimer&#8217;s disease. And health also takes shape in any <\/span><b>research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, in all those scientific challenges that help us to find the solutions that transform the future and improve people&#8217;s lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As part of <\/span><b>World Health Day<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, we explore <\/span><b>the key role played by scientific excellence in the face of great biomedical challenges<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. With the help of researchers from the <\/span><b>CaixaResearch network<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, we review the innovative advances they\u2019re making in different areas which could represent a turning point for the future of medicine and global health.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HYY6PsqIsp4?si=VyWGs0PBrKU1Ja2j\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><em><b>Improving the health of mothers and newborns<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every year, nearly 300,000 women die during pregnancy or childbirth and more than two million newborns die in their first month of life. In addition, around 13 million babies are born prematurely, before 37 weeks of gestation. <\/span><b>Caring for the health of mothers and newborns is essential to ensure a future with healthy families and communities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Consequently, to coincide with World Health Day, the WHO has launched the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/events\/detail\/2025\/04\/07\/default-calendar\/world-health-day-2025-healthy-beginnings-hopeful-futures\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures <\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">campaign to urge governments and the health community to ramp up efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The challenge is great but research has made key strides in recent years. &#8220;<\/span><b>Significant advances have been made in the field of maternal, foetal and neonatal health <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that have led to improvements in reproductive health and neonatal outcomes, such as the prevention of complications in pregnancy, the identification of high-risk cases of prematurity, the development of new foetal therapies and the improvement of intensive care for premature babies&#8221; explains <\/span><b>Elisenda Eixarch<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, an expert in foetal medicine and surgery and coordinator of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/mediahub.fundacionlacaixa.org\/en\/research-health\/health\/scientific-research\/2024-02-28\/an-artificial-placenta-increase-survival-most-premature-babies-5326.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CaixaResearch fetaLife at BCNatal FMRC<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> project . Her team is developing <\/span><b>an artificial placenta that replicates the physiological conditions of the womb <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">so that the organs of extremely premature babies can develop normally and thereby improve their life expectancy. It\u2019s a liquid incubator in which the newborn is provided with nutrition and oxygen through an umbilical cord, just like in the mother&#8217;s womb.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10080\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10080\" class=\"wp-image-10080\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-10080\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Elisenda Eixarch<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Artificial placenta has the potential to completely transform the way extremely premature babies are treated, offering an alternative that could <\/span><b>significantly reduce mortality and complications <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">associated with premature birth. In fact, its feasibility has already been demonstrated in animal models&#8221; adds Eixarch. &#8220;With this project, we not only aim to improve the survival and development of the babies but also the quality of life of their families. Extreme prematurity has a huge emotional and logistical impact on the parents, who face long hospital stays and a lot of uncertainty\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><em><b>Overcoming antibiotic resistance<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The development of antibiotics in the early 20th century is one of the great milestones in the history of medicine. Their widespread use revolutionised the treatment of bacterial diseases and surgery and helped to extend life expectancy worldwide. However, over time pathogens have become increasingly resistant to these drugs. Today, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/antimicrobial-resistance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WHO <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ranks <\/span><b>antimicrobial resistance as one of the top threats <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to global health, food security and development.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Joana Azeredo<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, researcher at the Centre of Biological Engineering at the University of Minho and leader of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-health-call-2021-project-infections-therapies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CaixaResearch &#8220;FITTED&#8221; project<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, is very aware of the challenge and the keys to tackling it. &#8220;We need innovative strategies that not only eliminate resistant bacteria but also make them sensitive again to existing antibiotics&#8221; she explains. &#8220;In addition, we need to focus on developing faster diagnostic tools that can accurately identify resistant infections and apply targeted treatments\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10088\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10088\" class=\"wp-image-10088\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog3-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog3-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog3-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog3-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-10088\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Joana Azeredo<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joana&#8217;s team is tackling the challenge from an innovative perspective: <\/span><b>using bacteriophage viruses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, natural enemies of bacteria, to develop highly targeted therapies. Their innovative approach not only targets infections precisely but also protects the microbiota and avoids many of the adverse effects of traditional antibiotic treatments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;We\u2019re developing synthetic bacteriophages with enhanced antibacterial properties that we can customise to target specific bacteria. There are challenges ahead, such as achieving greater scalability and moving into clinical practice, but the project has the potential to <\/span><b>redefine the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8221; explains Joana Azeredo. &#8220;Its impact on global health could be significant, offering a new paradigm for the treatment of infectious diseases that moves away from broad-spectrum antibiotics, reducing mortality and preserving the efficacy of existing antibiotics\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><em><b>Can we be vaccinated against unknown diseases?<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It took just 11 months from the time SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was first characterised until the first vaccine was administered to combat it. <\/span><b>The development in record time of treatments to stop the pandemic <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is already one of the milestones of modern biomedicine and connects with a long series of recent successes in the development of effective, cheap vaccines that are easy to produce, store and administer. However, there are still no effective vaccines for other diseases, such as AIDS, tuberculosis and cancer. How is research progressing to overcome existing challenges and find solutions for these diseases?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tuberculosis is the infectious disease that causes the most deaths in the world, particularly in resource-poor countries, <\/span><b>highlighting the socio-economic context as a key determinant of health<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. &#8220;Currently, there are 14 vaccine candidates for tuberculosis under clinical development, i.e. they\u2019re being tested on humans. They follow two main strategies: preventing the infection or preventing the disease&#8221;, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-debates-tuberculosis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">explains Alberto Garcia-Basteiro<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, associate research professor at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre promoted by &#8220;la Caixa&#8221; Foundation, and coordinator of the Tuberculosis Research Unit of the Manhi\u00e7a Health Research Centre (CISM).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, work is not only being carried out on vaccines for known diseases but also on <\/span><b>treatments for new diseases that may emerge in the future<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as was the case with COVID-19. The challenge here is both to optimise the development system and to be prepared in terms of logistics and distribution. &#8220;The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was set up with the aim of ensuring that the world can respond to a pandemic threat with a new vaccine within 100 days&#8221; says expert <\/span><b>Marta Tufet, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">policy director for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, who recently took part in the documentary <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaforumplus.org\/c\/inmunidad-global\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Global Immunity&#8221;<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, produced by CaixaForum+ together with ISGlobal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In recent years vaccines have also become an important ally against non-infectious diseases such as cancer. &#8220;So-called <\/span><b>treatment vaccines <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are used to treat patients who\u2019ve already been diagnosed with cancer; they\u2019re not preventive. Their aim is for the body to eliminate the cancer cells that remain after treatment and stop the cancer from recurring&#8221; says <\/span><b>Laura Angelats<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a researcher at the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) of Hospital Cl\u00ednic de Barcelona.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10092\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10092\" class=\"wp-image-10092\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog4-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog4-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog4-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog4-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog4-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog4-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-10092\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Laura Angelats<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><em><b>The future is immune<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Immunology has gone from being an emerging discipline to one of the keys to the medicine of the future. Innovations such as mRNA vaccines and immune checkpoint inhibitors are <\/span><b>redefining the treatment of a large number of infectious and autoimmune diseases, as well as cancer<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and their potential has been increased even further by their recent integration with artificial intelligence and personalised biomarkers, paving the way for more precise and effective medicine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, as we move forward, new challenges also arise. &#8220;One of the most urgent challenges is to understand the complexity of the immune system at an individual level, to achieve more precise therapies and extend the benefit to the majority of patients whilst avoiding the toxicity associated with immunotherapies&#8221; explains <\/span><b>Toni Celi\u00e0-Terrassa<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, principal investigator at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute in Barcelona, who\u2019s determined to tackle this challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10096\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10096\" class=\"wp-image-10096\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog5-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog5-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog5-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog5-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog5-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog5-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-10096\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Toni Celi\u00e0<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;With the support of &#8220;la Caixa&#8221; Foundation, we\u2019re working on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaimpulse-health-innovation-call-2023-project-immunotherapy-breast-cancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>new mRNA therapies<\/b><\/a> <b>that make it easier for the immune system to detect and eliminate tumours more effectively. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our aim is to ensure that a high proportion of patients can benefit from these treatments&#8221; says <\/span><b>Celi\u00e0-Terrassa<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. &#8220;In addition, &#8220;la Caixa&#8221; Foundation is also supporting our research into the dynamics between the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-health-call-2023-project-understanding-metastasis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>immune system and tumour cells during metastasis<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which could have a significant impact on refining immunotherapies against metastasis\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/fundacionlacaixa.org\/es\/caixaresearch-institute\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>CaixaResearch Institute<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>Spain\u2019s<\/b> <b>first research centre specialising in immunology and one of the first in Europe<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, will soon open its doors in Barcelona. &#8220;Immunology is involved in most chronic pathologies, as well as in ageing and its associated diseases. That\u2019s why <\/span><b>its research and applications are applicable across the board in terms of health<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8221; adds Celi\u00e0-Terrassa. &#8220;A centre capable of channelling this transversal nature is promising for scientific advances associated with improvements in health\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><em><b>The complex fight against Alzheimer&#8217;s disease<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the world&#8217;s population ages, <\/span><b>neurodegenerative diseases are becoming more common<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. According to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/dementia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WHO data<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, in Spain alone more than 800,000 people are living with Alzheimer&#8217;s, a disease that still has no cure but for which a lot of progress has been made in terms of our understanding. The discovery of several biomarkers to improve the diagnosis of Alzheimer&#8217;s, the development of drugs capable of delaying the cognitive deterioration associated with the disease and the implementation of new preventive strategies are just some of the major advances in recent years related to this disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Looking to the future, there are a lot of challenges&#8221; says Marc Su\u00e1rez Calvet, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.barcelonabeta.org\/en\/news\/news\/marc-suarez-calvet-head-bbrc-group-biomarkers-fluids-and-translational-neurology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;la Caixa&#8221; Foundation fellow and head of the new Biomarkers in Fluids and Translational Neurology Group at the Barcelona\u03b2eta Brain Research Center (BBRC)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. &#8220;The first is to <\/span><b>transfer all the knowledge we have of neurodegenerative diseases to clinical practice<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In addition, at a global level it\u2019s essential to <\/span><b>implement prevention and education policies <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">regarding the risk factors with an impact on brain health, from cardiovascular factors to pollution in cities&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10084\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10084\" class=\"wp-image-10084\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog2-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog2-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-10084\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Marc Su\u00e0rez<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Su\u00e1rez Calvet&#8217;s Group aims to develop biomarkers, discover new therapeutic targets and provide <\/span><b>a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer&#8217;s <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and other neurodegenerative diseases. &#8220;<\/span><b>There isn\u2019t actually one single Alzheimer&#8217;s disease<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> but many subtypes with different prognoses and different symptoms, and which may also need different treatments in the future. For this reason, it\u2019s also key to develop biomarkers that not only detect the disease but also its subtypes and the mechanisms involved&#8221; concludes the researcher and &#8220;la Caixa&#8221; Foundation fellow.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-10076\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-2048x1153.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Health also lies in vaccines and advances in immunotherapy, in improvements in the living conditions of families, mothers and newborns, and in the search for cures for Alzheimer&#8217;s disease. And health also takes shape in any research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge, in all those scientific challenges that help us to find the solutions that transform the future and improve people&#8217;s lives.<\/p>\n<p>As part of World Health Day, we explore the key role played by scientific excellence in the face of great biomedical challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[601,600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research","category-science-outreach"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The great challenges in health. Going beyond the boundaries of research - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/the-great-challenges-in-health-going-beyond-the-boundaries-of-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The great challenges in health. Going beyond the boundaries of research - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Health also lies in vaccines and advances in immunotherapy, in improvements in the living conditions of families, mothers and newborns, and in the search for cures for Alzheimer&#8217;s disease. And health also takes shape in any research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge, in all those scientific challenges that help us to find the solutions that transform the future and improve people&#8217;s lives. As part of World Health Day, we explore the key role played by scientific excellence in the face of great biomedical challenges.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/the-great-challenges-in-health-going-beyond-the-boundaries-of-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-07T09:24:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-07T19:47:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DM-Salud_Blog_Cardgeneral-ENG-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1441\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ubikmedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ubikmedia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/the-great-challenges-in-health-going-beyond-the-boundaries-of-research\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/the-great-challenges-in-health-going-beyond-the-boundaries-of-research\/\",\"name\":\"The great challenges in health. 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