Secondary school teachers get up to date with cancer research at IRB Barcelona

On Friday 7 and Saturday 8 November, 15 teachers from secondary schools in Catalonia will have the opportunity to get up to date with the latest research in cancer, metastasis and personalized medicine through a course given by researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). Forming part of the “Teachers and Science” programme promoted by the “Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera”, this is the fourth course in which IRB Barcelona has participated.

This is the second year in which IRB is offering the course “Cancer, metastasis and personalized medicine", in which the teachers work hand-in-hand with scientists to explore the latest breakthroughs in cutting-edge research in cancer, as well as the techniques and tools used for the study, diagnosis and treatment of tumours. In this course, special attention is given to hot topics, such as cancer stem cells and personalized medicine.

The course, given in IRB Barcelona facilities, located at the Barcelona Science Park, involves 15 hours of training accredited by the Department of Education of the Catalan Government.

Joan Guinovart, director of IRB Barcelona, emphasizes the need of leading research centres to offer training programmes for students and teachers in stages of compulsory education. “It is in our interests to have teachers and students who are motivated for science. After all, the societies with the highest levels of education are by far those with the greatest well-being. We thank the “Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera” for promoting and supporting this kind of initiative”.

This year’s programme, like other training initiatives at IRB Barcelona—many of them undertaken with the collaboration of the “Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera”—“are in high demand, thus indicating that not only are they necessary but also desirable," adds the director. The 15 places on the course “Cancer, metastasis and personalized medicine” were filled the very same day the offer was announced on the web Professors i Ciència de la Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera.

Course didactics

IRB scientists work towards answering key questions such as why some patients develop metastasis while others do not, who is at risk, why different types of cancer tend to reproduce in certain organs, the function of stem cells in the origin and repair of tumours, and how we can determine which kind of chemotherapy is best for each patient.

During the first day, the scientists Eduard Batlle, Elena Sancho and Roger Gomis will explain the main lines of research being conducted in cancer labs. On the second day, Carme Cortina, Peter Jung, Jelena Urosevic, Ivan del Barco, Nuno Vasconcelos, Andrés Castellanos, Pablo Barrecheguren, Helena González and Òscar Martorell, will give specialized workshops.

The teachers learn to prepare tumour tissue samples and to then examine them and distinguish between aggressive and less aggressive tumours. In the second workshop, they will culture tumour stem cells in vitro and in the third they will study the different effects of drugs in function of the type of tumour being treated.

After the course, the teachers are provided with teaching material and access to numerous resources in oncological research. Furthermore, depending on the availability of equipment in schools, they will be able to repeat some of the practical sessions in the classroom.