Author Archives: Jordi Villà i Freixa

A new period for the CBBL

Posted by 21 de December de 2014

The computational biochemistry and biophysics laboratory was created at the UPF in 2003 and remained there until May 2012, when I moved to the UVic-UCC. After a couple of years of strong managerial work that diverted the main research efforts of the lab, it is now rebuilding with evolved lines of research within the framework of the Bioinformatics and Medical Statistics Research Group. To make the story short, the CBBL devotes more and more to collaborative work with experimentalists, and a number of projects dealing with computational structural biology are being undertaken by the lab members. See the publications page for more details.

On the other hand, the interest of the lab to develop its own tools when needed is more than alive, and the combination between methodological development and applied research is the driving force of our members.

Doctorats industrials, la triple hèlix en acció (#DoctoratsIndustrials)

Posted by 8 de June de 2014

Diari ARA, 08/06/2014

La recerca bàsica, malgrat el sotrac de la crisi, ha experimentat al nostre país un avenç sense precedents en els darrers 15 anys, i ens ha situat com a pol d’atracció de talent reconegut internacionalment. En paral·lel, el teixit industrial català surt fortament tocat d’aquesta crisi, però per la seva capacitat de resistència i regeneració comença a donar signes de recuperació. Sortosament, són cada cop més els exemples de la integració de l’R+D+I al disseny i execució de processos productius, però encara som lluny d’exemples exitosos d’altres regions. Per obtenir les sinergies necessàries en aquest procés de reflotament, és imprescindible, doncs, un major diàleg entre els mons de la universitat i l’empresa.

És en aquest context que la Generalitat de Catalunya va llançar el 2012 una proposta engrescadora per incorporar talent a les empreses allà on han de reforçar el seu creixement. El Govern va identificar que la transferència de coneixement havia de donar pas a la concurrència d’interessos entre ambdós mons, i és en els recursos humans on aquesta col·laboració universitat-empresa s’accentua.

D’aquest esforç sorgeix el programa de doctorats industrials, en el qual la UVic-UCC té una participació molt activa. De la bona entesa en la triple hèlix empresa-administració-universitat n’estan sorgint propostes que impulsen nova riquesa basada en el coneixement i la seva aplicació que, sens dubte, ens ajudaran a superar aquests moments de depressió econòmica i anímica.

#CienciaSMW

Posted by 21 de February de 2014

Jordi Villà-Freixa, invited speaker at the event on “Internet i les eines de social media en la comunicació de la ciència”, during the 2014 Social Media Week at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB).

In recent years the Internet and social networks have rapidly become part of many aspects of our daily lives. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube… make it easier to stay in touch with family and friends, join conversations of interest online and have access to more audiovisual material than there are hours in the day to watch’ l! Its ability to quickly spread and amplify content and to do so in an informal environment means that the Internet and social networks have become powerful tools to use in a professional context and also to attract and involve people in different causes.

The Web is today the great platform for researching scientific information, both specialized and dissemination. However, most scientists are yet to use these platforms to communicate their research. In this sense, science communicators can also make great use of it, beyond the online portals of the media where they work or the blogs where they publish their articles. It is in recent years that Facebook and Twitter have begun to be used as tools for the promotion and dissemination of their work or scientific information of general interest.

How to communicate science to society through the Internet and which ways to use to take advantage of the full potential of the Web remains a field that needs to be explored and exploited with more knowledge and tools.

This is why the Secretariat of Universities and Research of the Generalitat de Catalunya has organized a conference  as part of Social Media Week Barcelona (#SMWBCN). Coinciding with the commemoration of the three hundredth anniversary of the events of 1714, this day is included in the Tricentenary programme. The commemoration, launched by the Generalitat de Catalunya under the slogan “Érem.Som.Serem”, wants to transcend the historical perspective and is presented as an opportunity to share spaces for reflection and dialogue that allow us to jointly rethink a future project.

The conference brought together experts from companies such as Google, Yahoo and the BBC as well as working scientists, journalists specializing in science, university and research center communications managers to discuss the following issues:

  • How can you create attractive, potentially viral content on the Internet?
  • What are the formats with the most possibilities for disseminating science on the Web? it is everything invented on the internet or is there still room for innovation? What are the future trends?
  • What possibilities do Twitter, Facebook, YouTube… offer to communicate science? How can you get the most out of it to build a name on the Internet?
  • How can a platform like Facebook help create and position a brand a Internet? How can it benefit a research center to disseminate its work and obtain funding for future projects?

PROGRAM


SMWBCN2014.key

Participació en la conferència sobre ‘cloud’ i ciència, organitzada per Mind the Byte

Posted by 13 de June de 2013

Mind the Byte ha organitzat la primera Scientific Cloud Anual Conference (SciCloud) a Barcelona. La conferència SciCloud, que es farà anualment, reunirà experts de diferents àrees de serveis al núvol i la ciència per descobrir i intercanviar idees i avenços en aquest camp.

L’ús de tècniques computacionals és clau per optimitzar i accelerar els projectes d’R+D+I, especialment, el desenvolupament de fàrmacs. Sovint, però, suposa una forta inversió i manteniment que no són assumibles per a pimes i grups de recerca. El núvol com a infraestructura i el SaaS (Software as a Service) com a solució de programari de pagament per ús ajuden a racionalitzar aquestes tècniques computacionals a les necessitats de cada moment sense haver de comprar servidors ni infraestructura TI.

La sessió inaugural va anar a càrrec de la Dra. Montserrat Vendrell, directora general de Biocat, i el Dr. Jesús Purroy, director Científic del Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB). També hi han participat com a ponents el Dr. Jordi Villà-Freixa, director de l’Escola Politècnica de la Universitat de Vic; Hakan Gurel, Solution architect d’Amazon Web Services; el Dr. Alfons Nonell-Canals, director general de Mind the Byte, i Oscar Huertas, director de Tecnologia de SOM Biotech.

Més informació a la web de Biocat.

New model for CFTR

Posted by 5 de July de 2012

The CBBL has completed part of the work of a three years long project on translational bioinformatics in cystic fibrosis (Activa). Our main role in the project was the determination of a model structure for CFTR, the chloride channel whose mutations are in the basis of the disease, as well as being a target for acute watery diarrhea drugs.

The new model, built in collaboration with Nir Ben-Tal’s lab at Tel Aviv University, proposes an open conformation of the channel, oposite to previous models, paving the way for the development of new drugs for both activation and blocking of the channel.

VHIR Seminar: “Improvements in computer simulations in biomedicine and how they are going on-line”

Posted by 23 de May de 2011

Jordi Villà-Freixa has been invited by Luís Agulló to give a seminar at the Vall d’Hebrón Research Institute in Barcelona on our research in the lab.


Abstract

Molecular simulations and biochemical kinetics modelling are among the most computing demanding problems in biomedicine. In this talk I will introduce several improvements our group has been developing in the last years, and how they have been applied to a variety of questions proposed by our fellow experimentalists. However, an increasing demand for simple and multiplatform bioinformatics and simulations methods to tackle a variety of problems in biomedicine exists. Thus, the natural move of a research group to make its software widely spread is to create web portals and web services that habilitate others to use its tools in an easy way. We will show the concept of Activ8 as an extremely simple to use and absolutely expandable platform for building computational protocols on-line. Examples of its use will range from research to training.

YOUTUBE

Debat sobre la medicina del futur /XTVL)

Posted by 13 de October de 2010

Jordi Villà-Freixa participa al debat sobre la medicina del futur a la Xarxa de Televisions Locals (XTVL), en una taula rodona moderada pel periodista Jordi Sacristán, que va comptar també amb Joan X. Comella, director del Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Albert Jovell, director de la Fundació Josep Laporte, Jordi Villà i Freixa investigador en Biomedicina Informàtica de la UPF, i Karla Islas, periodista de Diario Médico.

Jordi Villà-Freixa and Ferran Sanz granted with the 2009 Social Council awards of University Pompeu Fabra.

Posted by 22 de September de 2009

Jordi Villà-Freixa, head of Computational Biochemistry and Biophysics laboratory of GRIB and Ferran Sanz, Director of GRIB, have been granted with the 2009 Master Teaching Quality Award and the 2009 Knowledge Transfer Award respectively.

The Master Teaching Quality Award distinguishes the work of Dr. Villà-Freixa in the creation and development of the Master in Bioinformatics of University Pompeu Fabra.

The Knowledge Transfer Award distinguishes the contribution of Dr. Sanz to the development of new strategies in pharmaceutical research, as well as the promotion of public-private partnerships in the field.

They will receive these awards during the opening ceremony of the academic course 2009-2010 on September, 29th at UPF.