Life and Matter Sciences Events in 2019

Health

In 2019 newborn screening or heel prick turned 50 years old since its introduction in Spain. This Public Health program allows the identification of thirty treatable disorders in newborns, most of them genetic and affecting metabolism, before the appearance of symptoms, and avoiding irreversible sequels. 

We celebrated this first half century since its introduction with a round table that brought together different experts that agreed on the need to expand the program to new pathologies.

The field of artificial intelligence (also called "deep learning" or "machine learning") has evolved exponentially in recent years and is revolutionizing the biomedicine field. Under the title Artificial Intelligence in Biomedicine: What the future holds for us the 11th edition of these conferences and debates, jointly organized with Nature Springer, described basic concepts in artificial intelligence and its application to biomedicine; and discussed its potential for the future of medicine and the socio-economic consequences that this technological revolution may have in current and future society. with Nature Springer. Kara L. Davis, from Stanford University, said that artificial intelligence can already tell us which patients with leukemia will relapse.

Big data was also discussed at the international conference Advances and Challenges in Organ Transplantation Research. Organ transplantation is a consolidated clinical procedure that prolongs and improves the quality of life of thousands of people with terminal organ failure. Tissue engineering represents a promising approach to the problem of organ shortage. Currently, the acceptance of transplanted organs depends on the immune response of the recipient.  This underscores the need for additional approaches to develop tolerance induction protocols. Mixed chimerism, cell therapy and nanoimmunotherapy have recently emerged as therapeutic innovations that improve the effectiveness of current treatments. Elisabeth Coll, Medical Director at the National Transplantation Organization (ONT), stated that the challenge for the Spanish transplantation system is working entirely online.

An increasing number of people are being diagnosed with the nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) each year. It is becoming one of the leading causes of advanced liver disease, including Hepatocellular carcinoma. The course Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: The new liver pandemic? examined, with the most important international experts, the latest researches and developments in epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of this new liver pandemic.

Janet E. Stout, from the University of Pittsburgh, recalled that Legionnaires' Disease remains a global threat to public health and that the solution is to control the growth and spread of this waterborne bacterium. Legionella is one of the main causative agents of severe atypical pneumonias, particularly among people with impaired immune systems as stated on the international conference Legionella and Legionnaires' disease: virulence, clinical aspects and control.

Hepatitis is one of the most prevalent pathologies and affects millions of people worldwide. The objective of the panel discussion Progress, control and innovation in hepatitis is to analyze its current prevention, control and innovation developments, and to address liver epidemiology, pharmacological aspects, and transplants.

Andrew T. Chan, from Harvard Medical School, delivered the inaugural lecture for the conference Gut microbiota and colorectal cancer: risk factors and prevention. The speaker assured that recent experimental data shows that the intestinal microbiome can contribute to colorectal carcinogenesis.

There were other events taking place in the field of health: a conference at the University of Zaragoza on Lipid Mediators in collaboration with the Solutex Chair in Sustainable Chemistry; a round table on Climate change, environmental pollution and the impact on human and animal health; a conference on the stress in the current society by Víctor Vidal Lacosta, professor and researcher in biomedical sciences; and the presentation of the first volume of The development of Microbiology in Spain, dedicated to the memory of Professor Julio Rodríguez Villanueva, developer of Microbiology in our country and vice president of the Scientific Council of the Fundación Ramón Areces until his death.