The Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center joins the ACER

The Catalan Association of Research Entities (ACER) has unanimously agreed to the incorporation of the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC). For the director of the BBRC, Jordi Camí, the assignment to ACER "is an opportunity to bring our knowledge and establish synergies with the main actors of research in Catalonia".

The association is made up of more than thirty Catalan non-profit research institutes, dedicated to life sciences and health, social sciences, natural sciences, mathematics and technology. Its objectives are to represent and promote its members in different national and international research organizations, promote collaboration among partners, promote initiatives with agents of the public and private system, and contribute to the improvement of scientific culture, among others.

The ACER organization is made up of all the associated entities, which choose their board of directors during the general assembly. Currently the organization is chaired by Dr. Josep Samitier, director of the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC).

The BBRC was created in 2012 by the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, with the support of the Pompeu Fabra University. The center is dedicated to the prevention of Alzheimer's disease and to the study of cognitive functions affected in healthy and pathological aging. In order to prevent neurodegenerative diseases and promote healthy aging, there are two complementary research programs: the Alzheimer Prevention Program and the Memory Program, recently started. In them, are carried out projects of primary and secondary prevention of Alzheimer's disease, neuroimaging studies and projects on cognitive functions affected in aging, such as memory, learning and decision making.