Albert Barberà, new CEO of Biocat

Barcelona, 22 December 2015.- The Biocat Board of Trustees, presided over by Catalan Minister of Health Boi Ruiz, has appointed Dr. Albert Barberà the new CEO of the organization. Barberà, who until now has served as director of the Girona Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBGi), will take over in January for Dra. Montserrat Vendrell, who was CEO of Biocat from 2007 through September of this year when she took the reigns of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).

Albert Barberà (Barcelona, 1969) has a degree in Chemistry and Pharmacy and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Barcelona (UB). In addition to this scientific training, he also did a postgraduate degree in Financial Management and a Master of Scientific Leadership and Management. Over his career, he has obtained professional experience in both research and management of knowledge and innovation in the biomedical research environment and in health.

After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Rockefeller University in New York, Barberà joined the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), first as a researcher and later managing national and international projects. Since 2008, he has held several positions in science management, first as the manager of the Institute of Health Carlos III Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders (CIBERDEM), later as scientific coordinator at IDIBAPS and, finally, as director of the IDIBGi, his current position.

“For me it is a privilege and a great professional challenge to take over as CEO of Biocat, leading projects that help strengthen the whole health ecosystem in the BioRegion of Catalonia,” highlights Albert Barberà, new CEO of Biocat.

About Biocat

Biocat is the organization that coordinates and promotes the health and life sciences sector in Catalonia. Its mission is to dynamize and support the public and private stakeholders that make up the BioRegion, the biosciences cluster in Catalonia, including companies, research groups and bodies, hospitals, universities, administrations and knowledge- and innovation-transfer support structures. In order to carry out this mission, Biocat promotes initiatives to encourage research, innovation and business growth, with the aim of making this sector a driving force for the Catalan economy and boosting its global recognition.

Biocat was created in 2006 at the behest of the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council to provide a joint strategy for the Catalan biosciences sector as the foundation of a new economy based on knowledge and innovation.

Set up as a public/private foundation, the Biocat governing bodies include representatives from all levels of the BioRegion of Catalonia: companies (biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical technology and sector services), government, universities, hospitals, research centers and institutes, science parks and sector support bodies.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Biocat:

Nuria Peláez  · +34 606 816 380 · +34 93 310 34 77 · npelaez@biocat.cat

http://www.biocat.cat/en/current-news-sector/press-room

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