IBSA Foundation for Scientific Research
16 January 2025
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20 January 2025The Aspanoa Chair of the University of Zaragoza will finance eight researchers with more than 16.000 euros in this second edition of the Impulso con Aspanoa project. The IIS Aragón and the I3A are two of the five research groups participating
The Aspanoa Chair has just awarded 16.000 euros in grants to start up three new projects, in collaboration with the Aragon Engineering Research Institute (I3A), to develop Actions that improve the quality of life of children with cancer and their families, both in the care field and in other essential aspects of their lives such as education, physical well-being or their social life, which are completely altered during treatment.
Through the Impulso Program with Aspanoa, the Chair will finance three projects that will be coordinated by eight researchers with the focus on neuroblastoma, in the identification of tumor cells through biosensors and in the development of technological applications to facilitate the physical exercise in children who have undergone an oncological process.
This is the second edition of this program and “we decided to redistribute the funds we had available to try to respond to the largest number of projects of all those who had applied," explains María Ángeles Pérez Ansón, director of the Aspanoa Chair.
The three projects that will receive funding “are exceptional and different, which is something we were also looking for, two are more basic research and the third is more applied. In the end, all of them in one way or another contribute to childhood cancer and to improving the quality of life of children," says Pérez Ansón.
The manager of Aspanoa, Juan Carlos Acín, has pointed out that the Association seeks with this Chair “solving very specific problems” that affect children who suffer from this disease. “We are delighted to promote these three projects that not only seek to improve survival, but also to reduce the consequences suffered by children who survive.”

Strategies for the treatment of children with high-risk neuroblastoma using CAR-T immunotherapy. The aim of this study is to provide a framework for the identification of the most important aspects of the study, including the identification of the most important aspects of the study, and the identification of the most important aspects of the study.
Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children, responsible for 11% of all cancer deaths in the pediatric population. Nearly half of patients have high-risk disease at diagnosis, and five-year survival is 40% to 50%.
This multidisciplinary project will be developed by three complementary research groups, working in Biomedical Engineering, in immunotherapy and, finally, a clinical application group at the Children's Hospital of Zaragoza.
The objective is create a multidisciplinary platform of in vitro work to evaluate different strategies, based on new CAR-T immunotherapies, that allow personalized treatments for childhood cancer. This novel therapy has already been used for several years in children with leukemia and this project aims to test in the laboratory whether it is also effective against neuroblastoma.
“We hope to create a working group in Aragon to familiarize ourselves with the use of this technology and to be able to use it in the future on pediatric patients,” explains José Manuel García Aznar, researcher at I3A.
MICROBIOSENS ‐ Development and application of biosensors for the evaluation of the malignant potential of tumor cells. Arantxa Otín (GEPM – I3A) and Senentxu Lanceros (BCMaterials).
The identification and detection of cancer biomarkers are clear noninvasive tools for the early detection, prevention and treatment of cancer. In this regard, biosensors have emerged as a technology that facilitates the detection and monitoring of biomarkers in a rapid, sensitive and cost-effective manner.
This project will address the design, manufacturing and test of an integrated microfluidic system. The developed biosensors will help in the early detection and monitoring of pediatric cancer by evaluating important biomarkers for different common childhood tumors.
The evolution of metabolic parameters of biological cultures grown under different conditions will be evaluated, considering samples with different invasion or metastasis capacity.
Promotion and Supervision of Physical Activity for Childhood Cancer Patients. Natalia Ayuso (RoPeRT – I3A), Vanesa Bataller (USJ) and Raquel Trillo (DiSCO – I3A).
The objective is to design a tool that combines the proposal of personalized physical activity with monitoring in children who are cancer survivors. Having a platform that integrates information from different devices, that is child-friendly and that can collect personalized physical activity programs, would encourage physical activity in children and improve their physical condition and quality of life.
The proposal aims to collect, process and display information from these wearable devices on a gamified platform with an interface adapted to children. In addition, the tool would offer families and doctors documented information on adapted physical exercise programs for those who have suffered from childhood cancer.
Wearable devices and other digital health interventions represent an innovative strategy for exercise adherence in childhood cancer survivors.
One very positive aspect of this call for projects from Impulso with Aspanoa “is the multidisciplinary nature of the teams that make it up. It is one of the added values of this Chair. Research into childhood cancer requires teams with different skills among its members and we easily find this among the researchers at I3A and their collaborators,” highlights María Ángeles Pérez Ansón.
About the Aspanoa Chair
The Aspanoa Chair of the University of Zaragoza was created in 2023 to promote research into childhood cancer. It has the collaboration of the Engineering Research Institute of Aragon (I3A). It is directed by María Ángeles Pérez, professor of Mechanical Engineering and researcher at the I3A. In addition, the Joint Monitoring Committee of this chair is made up of Manuel Arruebo, professor of Chemical Engineering and researcher at the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragon (INMA); Óscar Lucía, professor of Electronic Technology and president of the Young Academy of Spain; the president of Aspanoa, Gabriel Tirado, and the manager of this Association, Juan Carlos Acín.
Source: ASPANOA, I3A
Image: Asier Alkorta