i4KIDS leads an international mission to launch two days dedicated to paediatric innovation in Barcelona

On 19 November, i4KIDS kicked off two days dedicated to paediatric innovation in Barcelona with an international mission that brought together professionals from the ECHO network, members of i4KIDS-EUROPE and representatives from European institutions such as Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

The day began at Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital with an institutional welcome by Dr Joan Comella, Director of Research, Innovation and Learning at the hospital and at the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute. This was followed by a presentation by Fátima Nuñez, Deputy Director of Innovation, Research and Learning, who introduced the centre and its research and innovation model.

The group then visited two of the hospital’s strategic innovation spaces: the Advanced Therapies Platform, where pioneering cell and gene therapy projects are being developed, and the Command Centre, a data-driven control hub that enables real-time monitoring of care activity, operational capacity and key clinical indicators.

After the visit to the hospital, the mission moved on to the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC). There, X4HPC, the R&D network funded by the Government of Catalonia and a fellow hub of i4KIDS, presented to participants several projects driven by high-performance computing and aimed at accelerating progress in biomedicine and other scientific fields.

The day concluded with a presentation by Biocat, offering an overview of the Bioregion of Catalonia and its ecosystem of research, innovation and health entrepreneurship.

This international mission marked an especially inspiring start to the afternoon activities — the Paediatric Investment Forum — and to the Paediatric Innovation Day held the following day, reinforcing i4KIDS’ commitment to European collaboration and the advancement of new solutions in child and maternal health.