Bernardo Abel Cedeño Veloz, a predoctoral researcher from the Geriatrics and Active Ageing Unit (INGEA) at Navarrabiomed-IdiSNA and specialist in Geriatrics at the Hospital Universitario de Navarra, will defend his thesis from the Universidad Pública de Navarra on Tuesday, 16th April at 11:00 h, in the conference room at Navarrabiomed.

The doctoral work, entitled “A translational approach to the secondary prevention of hip fracture in the elderly: from basic science to clinical practice", has been carried out at Navarrabiomed and at the Hospital Universitario de Navarra, under the supervision of Drs. Mikel Izquiero Redín, Principal Investigator of the Physical Exercise, Health and Quality of Life Unit (E-FIT) at Navarrabiomed and Nicolás Martínez Velilla, Principal Investigator of the Geriatrics and Active Ageing Unit (INGEA). In addition, this project has also been possible thanks to support from the Scientific/Technical Proteomics Department and Biobank at Navarrabiomed.

The doctoral thesis focuses on the relationship between scientific discoveries in bone health, its management and its application in the prevention of fractures in the elderly, highlighting the importance of biomarkers and telerehabilitation as tools to address this public health problem.

Details of the research 

As part of his doctoral thesis, Bernardo Abel Cedeño has studied various aspects. With regard to the prevention of hip fractures using antiresorptives, it is concluded that this treatment in elderly patients with osteoporosis has limited benefits, thus highlighting the need for a multifactorial approach in the prevention of hip fractures. Furthermore, the continued importance of biomarkers in osteoporosis is also highlighted, thus suggesting that the development of new biomarkers could revolutionize the treatment of the disease. Through biomarker blood testing, immunological biomarkers related to fracture risk, which could aid in clinical decision-making and fracture prevention in the elderly, have been identified. In the follow-up of the previously mentioned patients, frailty-related serum biomarkers that predict adverse outcomes in patients with hip fracture were found, thus offering a potential clinical tool and opening up new avenues of research. Finally, a multicomponent intervention with telerehabilitation is proposed to improve functional capacity in patients with hip fracture, which could change the care of these fractures in the future.

The research has been published in five publications in high-impact international journals (Q1–Q2). It has also been presented at several international conferences. As a result of one of these studies presented at a conference, he received the award for best young researcher at the International Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases, in Barcelona 2023.