Our Research Institute is launching a new scientific structure to accelerate research into blood cancers.

More than 70 haematology professionals —including researchers, clinicians, diagnostic specialists and computational scientists— gathered on 20 and 21 February at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC) to define a new way of working aimed at accelerating progress towards curing blood cancers.

During the meeting, called the Working Groups Design Sprint, participants discussed and designed the model for future integrated working groups that will connect basic research with clinical practice. The goal is to organise research around major biological and clinical challenges, encouraging collaboration across disciplines and speeding up the translation of scientific discoveries into benefits for patients.

The initiative also featured a talk by Dr Ross Levine, an internationally recognised expert in haematological malignancies and member of the IJC External Scientific Committee, who shared his experience in developing collaborative translational research models.

The new groups will work in a transversal way and in coordination with Path2Cure and the Center for 22nd Century Diagnostics (C22D), two strategic pillars of the Institute. This approach will strengthen collaboration between research centres and hospitals, improve scientific infrastructure and create new funding opportunities for projects with direct impact on patients.

“We have come together to work for our patients and fulfil the mission we share,” said Dr Ari Melnick, Director of the Josep Carreras Institute. “Integrating cutting-edge scientific research with better designed clinical trials will allow us to discover new drugs and treatments and move closer to therapies with real curative potential.”

This initiative marks another step forward in the Josep Carreras Institute’s commitment to its mission: advancing towards a future free of leukaemia and other blood cancers.