”la Caixa” awards grants worth 28 million euros to 79 pioneering research projects with great social impact

Isidre Fainé, President of ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation, Jaume Giró, CEO of ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation, Javier Solana, member of ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation's Board of Trustees and Expert Advisory Council for Research, and Pedro Duque, the Spanish Government's Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, today awarded 79 grants to national and international research and innovation projects of excellence.

The research projects respond to the three lines of action promoted by ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation in the field of research: postdoctoral grants to foster research talent; support for projects of excellence in biomedicine and health; and CaixaImpulse, a programme aimed at transferring the results of biomedical research to society.

Can we use smart materials to reduce environmental impact? Is it possible to reverse the immortality of cancer cells? Can a simple blood test be used to diagnose dementia? These are three examples of questions that the researchers selected will attempt to answer in the coming years.

”la Caixa” promotes pioneering multidisciplinary research projects aimed at increasing social wellbeing. Over the last three decades, the institution has devoted more than 500 million euros to training, research and innovation, helping to build a global ecosystem that spans from the laboratory to society.

As Isidre Fainé, President of ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation, says: "Scientists are capable of transforming the world through their imagination, their talent and their efforts, and can provide answers to questions that we may not even have asked yet. ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation promotes projects aimed at broadening the horizons of our knowledge, including the 79 research initiatives that we present today, which we are sure will help us to create a future full of hope".