Barcelona becomes in the capital of ALS research during the ENCALS 2023
The ENCALS meeting 2023, organized by Dr. Mónica Povedano and her team, was hosted in Barcelona, Spain from Wednesday 12 to Friday 14 of July 2023. 
The “Neurological diseases and neurogenetics group” is accepted as an adscrit clinical group in CIBERNED
The group was included in CIBERNED consortium network as an adscrit clinical group, and Dra. Mónica Povedano was appointed principal investigator of the group.
“Neurology Hub Laboratory” creation
After Dr. Isidro Ferrer’s retirement, the group of Neuropathology was dissolved, and its members, equipment, and expertise were transferred to the Neurological Diseases and Neurogenetics group to establish the “Neurology Hub Laboratory”.
Closure of the “Neuropathology Group” led by Dr. Isidro Ferrer
After more than 20 years in operation, Dr. Pol Andrés Benito closes the Neuropathology group’s laboratory due to the retirement of its founder, Dr. Isidro Ferrer.
SIMOA’s acquisition partially financed by the “Neurological Diseases and Neurogenetics Group” and IDIBELL.
For research purposes, the group and IDIBELL financed the acquisition of SIMOA equipment. SIMOA is an ultra-sensitive immunoassay technology that allows the detection of proteins and nucleic acids at the lowest possible levels. It is a simple, flexible, robust, and sensitive multiplex immunoassay platform used for measuring biomarkers in the most common sample types.
The connection between the “Neurological Diseases and Neurogenetics Group” and the “Neuropathology Group” in the context of ALS research enabled the creation of the biannual fundraising campaign “Elles contra l’ELA,” directed by Dr. Pol Andrés Benito and Elena Alcalde, raising a total of 14,000 euros.
“Elles contra l’ELA” is a solidarity campaign for raising awareness and funds for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) research, driven through women’s football and sponsored by “Vueling,” “Ferrer Goods,” and “Macbor.” 
The collaboration between the “Neurological Diseases and Neurogenetics Group” and the “Neuropathology Group” started in the context of ALS research
The first collaborations between a basic group and a clinical group started in the context of Pol Andrés Benito’s doctoral thesis, with the support of Mónica Povedano. These collaborations included publications, projects, and the creation of the first biobank of cerebrospinal fluid samples of healthy control patients, with the agreement of Dr. María José Colominas, Head of Section in the Anaesthesia Service at Bellvitge University Hospital
Pol Andrés Benito starts his PhD in the “Neuropathology group” led by Dr. Isidro Ferrer
Pol Andrés Benito obtained his PhD grant from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, in the call “Contrato i-PFIS: Doctorados IIS – Empresa en ciencias y tecnologías de la salud. Convocatória 2015 de la Acción Estratégica en Salud (AES) 2013-2016”, for the study of molecular alterations within the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia (ALS-FTD) disease spectrum.
“Neuropathology group” foundation by Dr. Isidro Ferrer
The neuropathology group was created by Dr. Isidro Ferrer Abizanda at the end of 90s. The Neuropathology research group focusses on identifying new brain pathways, networks and clusters which change with age and in the initial stages of common neurodegenerative diseases, in order to understand the pathogenic factors which, occur during involution of the brain and in the initial stages of neurodegenerative diseases in old age, as well as identifying putative treatments for therapeutic prevention.
Isidre Ferrer Abizanda (Barcelona, 1951) is a Catalan neuropathologist and professor of pathological anatomy at the Department of Pathology and Experimental Therapeutics of the University of Barcelona, from 1990 until 2022. He has been the director of the Institute of Neuropathology and Brain Bank of the University Hospital of Bellvitge in Hospitalet de Llobregat since 1996 and coordinator of the neuropathology area at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) until his retirement in 2016. He is a member of the Institute of Neuroscience of the University of Barcelona and the leader of the research group in the area of Alzheimer’s disease and dementias at the Biomedical Research Networking Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED). He became an emeritus professor at the University of Barcelona in 2021 and an emeritus researcher at IDIBELL. He has published more than 900 scientific articles, and his work is highly cited by others.
