Lab members

M. Antonia Poca, MD, PhD

Our projects

UNINN is a translational research group in the HUVH and led by active neurosurgeons with the aim of conducting both basic and clinical research in order to transfer benchside discoveries to the bedside. Residents and young associates to collaborate with basic scientists and to be active in the development of translational projects without sacrificing their surgical training. UNINN strongly believes that the involvement of clinicians’ — and especially surgeons’ —in quality research is crucial in academic institutions, while allowing surgeons to increase the quality of their everyday work. The overarching goal is to train good neurosurgeons that are also competitive in translational research.

UNINN research is patient-centered and clinically oriented. We have robust intramural synergies, national collaborations with basic scientists, and international collaborations and alliances with researchers from multiple countries and institutions with whom we share common research goals. These synergies allow us to fill the gaps we have in some sophisticated ‘omics’ procedures. Our research unit participates in multinational clinical trials funded by the pharmaceutical industry and the European Union (EU). Our research unit is highly focused on developing and using new technologies to improve the assessment of clinical outcomes, incorporating quality of life measures, and patient-reported outcomes. We believe that this is particularly important in research studies in which changes in clinical measurements or imaging results might not translate into recognizable benefits to patients. In addition to the infrastructure needed to develop basic research projects, our research unit stands out by being clinically integrated with a specialized intensive care unit (ICU) in which an important number of moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients are admitted each year. This provides access to patient samples that are needed to develop the type of research projects we propose. Several members of the UNINN have conducted their PhD thesis on TBI research. Although we started as a clinically-oriented research unit, we have progressively included basic research without compromising our patient-centered orientation, with the aim to increase the amount of translational research to improve prognosis and quality of life. The UNINN now has its own complete 50 m2 laboratory with a fully-dedicated laboratory technician that assists PhD students and MDs with research, testing and experiments. Our research unit also maintains an important collection of brain tissue samples, serum, LCR, and microdialysates from the cerebral extracellular space of patients with TBI.

 The UNINN has been audited periodically and given the accreditation of the Catalan Autonomous Government of ‘Consolidated Research Group’, the last periodical audit in 2017 (2017 SGR-975). The UNINN is fully integrated into the European research community, and we have acted as coordinators of multicenter and international studies, and we have routinely collaborated in the drafting of clinical practice guidelines.

Last Publications

Poca MA, Cano P, Munar F, González D, Rosas K, Sahuquillo J. Distal catheter lengthening in pediatric patients with hydrocephalus using a guidewireassisted technique. Child’s Nervous System 2020 doi: 10.1007/s00381-020-04591-w. [Epub ahead of print].

Jha RM, Bell J, Citerio G, Hemphill JC, Kimberly WT, Narayan RK, Sahuquillo J, Sheth KN, Simard JM. Role of Sulfonylurea Receptor 1 and Glibenclamide in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Review of the Evidence. International J Mol Sci. 21. pii: E409, 2020 Doi: 10.3390/ijms21020409

Tegtmeier F, Schinzel R, Beer R, Bulters D, LeFrant JY, Sahuquillo J, Unterberg A, Andrews P, Belli A, Ibanez J, Lagares A, Mokry M, Willschke H, Flühe C, Schmutzhard E; NOSTRA Investigators. Efficacy of Ronopterin (VAS203) in Patients with Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury (NOSTRA phase III trial): study protocol of a confirmatory, placebo-controlled, randomised, double blind, multi-centre study. Trials 21:80, 2020 Doi: 1186/s13063-019-3965-4