On Tuesday 27 June 2023, Mutua Madrileña Foundation delivered its twentieth Health Research Grants. Endowed with more than two million euros, the grants were awarded to 26 clinical studies that will be conducted in hospitals throughout Spain.
Two of the grants are for projects that will be carried out at IDIBAPS-Hospital Clínic, one for rare childhood diseases and the other for mental health.
Regarding rare childhood diseases, Glòria Garrabou will launch new therapeutic, pharmacological and genetic approaches to Kearns-Sayre syndrome. This syndrome is a type of myopathy that is manifested by drooping eyelids, retinal changes, heart blockages that require pacemakers and other symptoms. It affects between five and 10 people per 100,000 inhabitants.
Furthermore, in terms of mental health, Oscar García-Algar will test epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), probiotics and neurocognitive stimulation in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). FASD is a disease that groups together a wide range of physical, mental, behavioral and cognitive abnormalities that a person can present when they have been exposed to alcohol during prenatal development.
Delivery of grants
Six of the 26 grants awarded throughout Spain are research projects developed in Barcelona with more than 680,000 euros in funding. The grants for the twentieth call were delivered in an event presided over by Ignacio Garralda, the president of Grupo Mutua and its foundation. It also included Rafael Matesanz, the chair of the Scientific Committee of the Mutua Madrileña Foundation, and Margarita del Val, a virologist and CSIC researcher.
In the last call, IDIBAPS-Hospital Clínic also received two grants.
