The new generation of leaders in biomedical research in the Barcelona area is stronger than ever, as proved at the first edition of the symposium “The Future Now: Emerging Leaders in Biomedicine”, held on September 21 at the Josep Carreras Institute. The event was an example of good institutional co-organization between the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC), the Vall d'Hebrón Institute of Oncology (VHIO), the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC),the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona (IBMB), the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and the Department of Medicine and Life Science (MELIS) of the University Pompeu Fabra.

The event was conceived with the aim of creating a space for networking, sharing cutting-edge research and fostering scientific collaborations between senior postdoctoral researchers and junior group leaders in Barcelona. The project became real this Thursday, in a Symposium with more than 140 participants. There were more than 15 talks by brilliant young researchers on basic and translational research and new technologies and a very interesting workshops and round table on how to take the step to lead a research group.

Dr. Manel Esteller, director of the Josep Carreras Institute and host of the symposium, stresses the importance of supporting researchers in their transition to group leaders: "When you finish your postdoctoral training you may have acquired the tools to do excellent research, but perhaps you do not yet have the skills to lead an excellent research group. It can be a difficult for a young researcher to manage other people and try to have resources at the same time. Any help and guidance we can provide them will be important."

In the framework of the symposium, a virtual book called "Emerging Leaders Book" has been created, which gathers short presentations on the research carried out by some of the participants, with the aim of giving them visibility and fostering scientific collaborations. This "Emerging Leaders Book" is available here.

This Symposium would not have been possible without the work and dedication of the Scientific Organizing Committee, formed by researchers from the 6 co-organizing centers and led by the promoters of the “Emerging Leaders” initiative: Dr. Lucas Pontel, Dr. Berta Vázquez, Dr. Ana Angulo and Dr. Gerardo Ferrer from the Josep Carreras Institute. They are very happy the great participation in the event and are confident that it can become an essential annual meeting for scientific leaders in the field of biomedicine in Catalonia.

The Emerging Leaders Symposium also received support from Miltenyi Biotec, Macrogen, BGI Genomics, Bonsai Lab and Labclinics.