We are searching for a Scientific Infrastructure Director for the BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center (BBRC) Foundation (based in Barcelona) – PROCESS CLOSED
Reporting to the Center’s Management and as a member of the Management Committee, you will assume the development and management of the Center’s central scientific infrastructure, a cohort study with thousands of participants from all over Spain. You will manage a multidisciplinary team of approximately 20 people participating in the development of observational research studies and non-pharmacological and pharmacological intervention studies (clinical trials). You will collaborate with the research teams (Faculty) in developing new studies.
You will assume the following main responsibilities:
- Representing the Center and the Scientific Infrastructure (longitudinal cohort study, among others) in national and international conferences, before other research centers, research groups, pharmaceutical laboratories, leading researchers, etc. to identify and promote opportunities for projects, studies, collaborations and alliances.
- Developing a network of national and international alliances with actors who wish to exploit the Center’s scientific infrastructure from a scientific perspective.
- Ensuring the management of the infrastructure of scientific data and samples, and access to it based on the security standards.
- Corroborating the scientific, operational and legal quality of ongoing studies.
- Verifying the highest quality standards for clinical research, guiding internal and external researchers on the methods, standards, procedures and other advanced methodological issues.
- Managing and developing the team of professionals under your responsibility.
The following are mandatory requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in Medicine. A specialty in Neurology will be valued.
- Medical specialties focused on the area of prevention (for example, cardiology, geriatrics, etc.) will be valued.
- Institutional representation capacity and with orientation to establish and cultivate relationships (networking) with agents of the health system, agents of the research ecosystem, among others, to contribute to developing the Center’s scientific infrastructure.
- Capacity to generate international consortiums.
- Experience in clinical research and protocol design.
- Experience in cohort management: open access management protocols, linked publications, big data and open science, among others.
- Experience in preparing budgets and in quantifying the resources necessary to develop projects: equipment, personnel, spaces, etc.
- Experience in managing multidisciplinary teams.
- Excellent verbal and written skills in English.
- Willingness to travel nationally and internationally.
- Good skills in the technological field.
- Experience in hospital environments, auditing and inspections of clinical trials, by pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies will be valued.
- Knowledge of Catalan and/or Spanish will be valued.
Competencies:
- Institutional sensibilities.
- Global and strategic vision.
- Collaborative leadership.
- Relationship skills, communication and relationship management.
- Organizational and analytical abilities.
The job offers the following:
- Participation in a highly innovative and multidisciplinary project.
- Incorporation into a private institution of civil society, with the mission of generating a high social impact.
- Full-time position, hybrid model (onsite + teleworking), extended vacation periods and flexible working hours.
- Competitive remuneration, based on skills and experience provided.
We offer and promote a diverse and inclusive environment and welcome applicants regardless of age, disability, gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.
About the employer
The Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC) is a research center, constituted in 2012 by the Pasqual Maragall Foundation. The Pasqual Maragall Foundation (FPM) was established in 2008 with the firm commitment of finding a solution to Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases associated with age through scientific research as an entity of civil society, funded thanks to economic help, and many times, the selfless and generous personal effort of our partners, donors and patrons.
The Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center aims to become a center of internationally renowned excellence in researching the cognitive decline associated with age, in order to provide practical solutions to the global challenges posed by the aging of the global population.
This goal is approached by promoting primary and secondary prevention programmes for Alzheimer’s disease and other related neurodegenerative disorders.
The mission of the BBRC is to provide innovative solutions to decipher and prevent biological changes and cognitive dysfunction associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Due to the aging of the world population, these diseases constitute a global challenge. For example, in the case of dementia, it may reach epidemic levels in 2050, with a forecast of more than 150 million people affected, if no way to prevent its appearance and development is found.
BBRC’s vision is to provide society with distinct and innovative solutions in studying age-related cognitive decline through complementary research programmes in order to achieve a multidisciplinary understanding of the aging process and the pathophysiology of neurodegeneration.
The FPM, Pompeu Fabra University and «La Caixa» Foundation are permanent members of the BBRC Board of Trustees. Competitive international contracting, state-of-the-art scientific facilities, effective management and continuous high-level peer-review evaluation are essential procedures at the BBRC that guarantee the achievement of first-rate research results.
The BBRC is affiliated with and located at the Ciutadella Campus of Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and its building contains excellent technical facilities, including a 3T MRI scanner dedicated to research, a clinical trials unit equipped to perform pharmacokinetic and dynamic studies, and conduct phase II, III and IV clinical trials, and since 2021, it has implemented the BBRC fluid marker platform. This new technical facility allows the development, validation and implementation of new fluid biomarkers that will improve the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages, detect subjects more susceptible to developing the disease, predict their prognosis, allow monitoring of disease progression and effectiveness of treatment, or be used as surrogate markers in clinical trials.
About the projects
A very important part of the research carried out at the BBRC is based on the data obtained in the Alfa Study (Alzheimer’s and Families), promoted by “La Caixa” Foundation. The Alfa Study is a pioneering research infrastructure made up of nearly 3,000 cognitively healthy people (mostly descendants of patients with Alzheimer’s disease), between the ages of 45 and 75, who voluntarily participate in the BBRC research studies. Depending on the project in which they participate, these people periodically carry out different clinical tests, biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid or plasma, cognition and neuroimaging, and have the opportunity to participate in clinical prevention trials.
A second cohort, the Beta-AARC (Alzheimer’s At Risk Cohort) study aims to include around 200 participants (55-80 years old), who are experiencing a decline in their memory or other cognitive abilities (people with Subjective Cognitive Impairment). Its main objective is the early detection of blood and digital biomarkers that represent the pathophysiological changes related to AD in people (either cognitively without impairment or MCI) who experience a subjective worsening of their cognitive performance. It is a longitudinal study with annual follow-up visits (MRI and lumbar puncture are performed only every 2 years).
Furthermore, BBRC participates in clinical trials from the Pharma-industry to test the preventive effect of experimental drugs in a group of participants with positive AD biomarkers.
