A total of 24 second- and third-year students in the Biology, Biochemistry and Chemistry degree programs at the Universidad de Navarra visited the Navarrabiomed facilities on Friday, June 4, to acquire firsthand knowledge about the work done at the biomedical research center.

Iñigo Lasa Uzcudun, Director of the center and principal investigator in the Microbial Pathogenesis Unit, welcomed the group members and introduced them to Navarrabiomed. He also described the center’s main scientific milestones and achievements in biomedicine in recent decades and listed the wide range of career options available in research.

The students were then divided into two groups to visit two different labs: the Translational Cardiology Research Unit laboratories and the Navarrabiomed Biobank. At the laboratories of the Translational Cardiology Research Unit, principal investigator Natalia López Andrés and her team described the studies they carry out in coordination with the Cardiology Service at the Hospital Complex of Navarre. Special emphasis was placed on the research being done to obtain new treatments to prevent heart valve damage and improve treatment of infective endocarditis. The students also received a guided tour of the Biobank from Isabel Gil Aldea, the Biobank Scientific Director, and Valle Coca Pueyo, a Biobank technician. The mission of the Navarrabiomed Biobank, in collaboration with different clinical services at the Hospital Complex of Navarre, is to collect, process and distribute human biospecimens, and thus contribute to the development of biomedical and translational research on different disorders.

This visit to Navarrabiomed forms part of the Science and Business Program of the Universidad de Navarra and the Center for Business Innovation of Navarre (CEIN), a specialist diploma offered this year from May 31 to June 4. The program includes visits to biotech companies, meetings with professionals working at technology and research centers, and sessions on entrepreneurship.

Navarrabiomed organized this visit in accordance with COVID-19 safety protocols and regulations in effect in Navarre.