25/07/2025

Biomedicine project presented at the Princess of Girona Foundation’s Young Talent Forum hosted by UIC Barcelona

UIC Barcelona hosted the Young Talent Forum, an event organised by the Princess of Girona Foundation that brought together more than 100 young professionals from 40 companies. Over 50 innovative projects were presented, focusing on the themes of social purpose, development and talent, artificial intelligence and sustainability.

The event, held in the Aula Magna at UIC Barcelona, featured four students from the University’s Bachelor's Degree in Biomedical Sciences: Estel Gubianes, Estel Massip, Tomás Tomeo and Luis Sanz. A project led by the biomedicine students was selected as a finalist in the social purpose category. The students designed a biosensor for the early diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Estel Gubianes and Estel Massip lead the multidisciplinary team ALSense, with the aim of contributing to the early detection of ALS – a neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons and for which there is currently no simple and effective diagnostic test. The project will be presented in October in Paris at iGEM, the world’s leading synthetic biology competition.

According to the students, the biosensor would detect specific disease biomarkers using non-invasive biological samples, facilitating early, accessible and effective diagnosis. The UIC Barcelona students emphasised that they are working to integrate the biosensor into a portable platform for use in clinical and research settings, with the goal of improving patient monitoring and disease tracking.

Meanwhile, Tomás Tomeo and Luis Sanz – winners of this year’s edition of the UIC Barcelona Startup Pioneer Programme, which promotes entrepreneurship among students – presented their project, NeuroBiome, an innovative treatment for central nervous system conditions that optimises compounds by reducing dosage and increasing efficacy.

 

A forum to foster talent

The Young Talent Forum formed part of the Princess of Girona Awards 2025 ceremony and aimed to create a space for connection among young professionals from companies represented on the foundation’s board of trustees, support their professional development, and strengthen their leadership skills. All the initiatives presented will be compiled in a report produced by KPMG – a document that will serve as a guide to good practice for organisations seeking to incorporate actions that promote development and young talent into their daily operations.

The director of the Princess of Girona Foundation, Salvador Tasqué, welcomed the more than 100 young participants to the Aula Magna at UIC Barcelona. “We do not believe talent is an innate ability to do something well, but rather a set of capabilities that can be developed,” he told attendees.

Gonzalo Rodés, trustee of the Princess of Girona Foundation, emphasised the role of the Young Talent Forum in “connecting entrepreneurs” and helping them to “generate impact in society”. Entrepreneur and co-founder of Founderz, Pau García-Milà, then delivered a brief lecture on artificial intelligence and its future applications. “In the past, the competitive advantage in a company was money; now it is time,” he reflected, encouraging the selected young professionals to make the most of the potential of AI tools.