Dr. Simó Schwartz Jr. has been appointed as the new general director of the Blood and Tissue Bank, replacing Dr. Enric Argelagués, who leaves his position today, March 1, after 17 years in the management (1993 – 2002 and 2013 – 2021). Argelagués was the promoter of the unification of blood banks that began in the eighties and culminated in the current Bank of Blood and Tissues of Catalonia.
Simó Schwartz now assumes the executive management of the organization, which currently has more than 800 workers and its mission is to ensure that all people in Catalonia have the blood and tissues necessary for their treatment at their disposal, promoting proper use. It is a reference centre in diagnostic immunology and in the development of advanced therapies; it is present in the main hospitals in Catalonia and is part of the national and international organizations related to donation, transfusion and treatments with biological components.
A life dedicated to research
Simó Schwartz Jr. arrived at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) in 2005 and since 2010 has been director of the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Research Centre for Nanomedicine (CIBBIM-Nanomedicine) of the VHIR, a centre that conducts biomedical research in the field of advanced therapies and applications based on nanotechnology, for clinical practice. He has also been deputy in the Directorate in Basic Research and head of the research group CIBBIM Nanomedicine, Drug Delivery and Targeting of the VHIR.
Since 2016, he has been President of the European Society of Nanomedicine, member of the Executive Council of the International Society of Nanomedicine and coordinator of technology transfer of the Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBER-BBN) of the Carlos III Health Institute, among others.
He has 16 patents, is the co-founder of three spin-offs and is the co-author of more than 100 articles in high-impact scientific journals. He has coordinated and collaborated in numerous projects as a researcher, most of them international, such as research on rare diseases, new cancer therapies and medical devices based on nanomedicine and advanced therapies.
In 2007, he received the Josep Trueta Award for scientific career from the Academy of Medical Sciences and Health of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
