Under the moto "Science is catchy", the University of Barcelona reports a
dialogue between Professor Marta Giralt and her daughter, doctoral student Palmira Llorens. On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the University of Barcelona released an interview about these issues with two women who live and share research in their closest environment: at home. They are Marta Giralt, from our research team, and her daughter Palmira Llorens, a PhD student in genetics at the UB.
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The Spanish Society of Obesity (SEEDO) organized the “The Day of Obesity” in Spain last
December 15. A highlight was dissemination of the importance of research on brown adipose
tissue activity, why it is protective for obesity and associated diseases, and how current
research envisage the identification of new tools for therapeutic activation of brown fat.
Ruben Cereijo and Marta Giralt from our research team organized an open session to public
volunteers for non-invasive assessment of brown fat activity using infrared thermography as
well as dissemination of the importance of brown fat in the premises of the Faculty of Biology in the University of Barcelona.



Francesc Villarroya acted as spokesman in a press conference in Madrid organized by SEEDO to highlight the current status and importance of brown adipose tissue research. The “Day of
Obesity” activities by SEEDO have had this year an outstanding coverage in the Spanish media, highlighting the importance of research to achieve successful therapeutic and preventive actions on obesity and the promising research involving brown fat.



Our research team is proud to participate in the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the first academic year in the Historical Building of the University of Barcelona. A concert by the UB orchestra, in which our team member Dr. Joan Villarroya participates as a violinist, performing concert pieces by Catalan composers, kicks off the commemorative activities.







The "2nd symposium of research Institutes at University of Barcelona was devoted to interdisciplinary research on climate change and global warming. In this context, as a contribution from IBUB, Marta Giralt presented the current knowledge and research perpectives on the cross-talk between climate change events and obesity pandemics, and how worldwide altered adiposity is both a consequence and a potential actor in climate change and global warming.







Journal of Endocrinology is the flagship basic science journal of the Society for Endocrinology, and is also an official journal of the European Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society of Australia. See journal's news at https://joe.bioscientifica.com/page/impactfactor/impact-factor-collection.







The Stanford University has released a study on the 2% top influential worldwide scientists according to a complex analysis of publications and citations (see: https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/3). F. Villarroya and M. Giralt are among this 2% and F.Villarroya is in fact among the 1/1000 most influential worldwide researchers. Regardless of individuals, this success in scientific ranking is exemplifying the excellent task and dedication of everybody in our research team to advance in scientific knowledge and biomedical prospects in our research. Congrats to everybody!.







International Journal of Obesity quotes a selection of articles from 2021, which top the
Dr Tania Quesada was awarded for her PhD thesis supervised by Dr. M.Giralt and Dr. F.Villarroya. Among other contributions, the thesis gave rise to the publication "The lipid sensor GPR120 promotes brown fat activation and FGF21 release from adipocytes."  Nature Communications 2016, 7:13479. doi: 10.1038/ncomms13479. The rector of the University of Barcelona gave the award on the occasion of the ceremony in the "Paraninfo" of the University.







International Journal of Obesity quotes a selection of articles from 2021, which top the
Current research on the prevention of metabolic alterations such as obesity or cardiovascular disease in people living with HIV under antiretroviral treatments were presented to the general public of the Guinardó district , Barcelona. The recording of the presentation can be seen at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quDGLLBLQXM







International Journal of Obesity quotes a selection of articles from 2021, which top the
list of the journal’s most cited, downloaded and most shared (including press
coverage, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and Weibo) articles. They showcase the breadth of
scope and coverage that the journal consistently delivers to its readers. Our paper
“The chemokine CXCL14 is negatively associated with obesity and concomitant type-2
diabetes in humans” by R. Cereijo, T. Quesada-López, A. Gavaldà-Navarro, J. Tarascó, S.
Pellitero, M. Reyes, M. Puig-Domingo, M. Giralt, D. Sánchez-Infantes & F.Villarroya,
published in January 2021, has been selected. The article states the importance of
CXCL14 as a biomarker of obesity/diabetes in humans after our previous study in Cell
Metabolism 2018 identifying CXCL14 as a novel batokine on the basis of rodent model
studies. The International Journal of Obesity is a leading multi-disciplinary journal
from the Nature editorial group publishing research describing basic, clinical and
applied studies in obesity and related disorders.