On 2 July, Dr Ana Díez, a lecturer in the Faculty of Health Sciences at UIC Barcelona and former paediatric resident at Hospital Universitari General de Catalunya, claimed second prize in the Junior Research Awards for her work “Update on third-hand smoke: A comprehensive systematic review” at the Jiménez Díaz Foundation in Madrid. 

 

The research, which was supervised by Dr Albert Balaguer, dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Dr José María Martínez, both of who work at UIC Barcelona, demonstrates the adverse effects of exposure to tobacco on the health of cells, in animal models and, most importantly, children. Mention was made in previous studies performed by the research group of the need to regulate the consumption of tobacco and to protect underage children from its harmful effects.

 

The jury assembled to select the winners of the 2018 research awards was presided by the leader of the U704 CIBERER Group at the Jiménez Díaz Foundation’s Health Research Institute, Dr Carmen Ayuso, and included several QuirónSalud Group professionals and senior managers. In the words of the jury, “Dr Díez’s work was chosen due to the scientific quality of the study and the impact of the journal, Environmental Research, in which it was published”. Such were the reasons that led them to award her the second-place prize.

 

According to the scientific researcher, “this award is an additional source of motivation for all of us to keep fighting for scientific and clinical excellence”, and went on to add that, “this work would not have been possible without the support provided by the Paediatrics Service at Hospital Universitari General de Catalunya and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at UIC Barcelona”.