Noticia - Instituto Distrital de Ciencia, Biotecnología e Innovación en Salud

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The ISBT Working Party on Rare Donors is a prestigious global community with members in more than 18 countries.

Paula Andrea Gaviria, Leader of the Advanced Immunohematology Unit of IDCBIS, was selected by the "International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT)" as the most recent member of the "ISBT Working Party on Rare Donors", being the first Colombian and the third Latin American to achieve it.

The ISBT Working Party on Rare Donors aims to "provide a mechanism for collaboration between countries to enable the provision of rare blood products to patients in need".

According to the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT), the group to which the IDCBIS collaborator now belongs is "a community eager to ensure that every patient who needs rare blood can receive it. This activity recognizes no political boundaries and is therefore all for the common good of patients all over the world".

The other two Latin American members of this group are Brazilian doctors Lilian Castilho and Silvano Wendel.

With this recognition, IDCBIS consolidates its position as the main actor in science and technology in the District and a reference for the country and the region.

September 10, 2021. Under resolution 1763 of 2021, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation recognized the District Institute of Science Biotechnology and Innovation in Health (IDCBIS) as a research center for 5 years, a recognition that the Institute had received in 2019 for a period of one year.

In the resolution, the Ministry states the reasons why the IDCBIS is worthy of the designation, among them "high commitment to the development and implementation of strategies that are linked to the development of the country, articulated with the research policy from the research, training, technology transfer and generation of new knowledge axes.”.

According to IDCBIS director, Dr. Bernardo Camacho, "This recognition is the result of a work that began to take shape 20 years ago with the creation of the District Hemocenter and that four years ago materialized with the creation of the IDCBIS, joining the efforts of the Blood Bank, Tissue Bank and Cord Blood Bank with research and development of products in transfusion, tissue and cellular medicine, promoting the generation of knowledge and innovation in biomedical sciences through the articulation of actors in science and technology".

The analysis carried out by the technical area of the Knowledge Generation Directorate of the Ministry of Science corroborated that the Institute "...has the capacity to generate and manage the knowledge of the Ministry of Science...".demonstrates proper planning in research, administrative, service delivery, management and financial activities”.

On the other hand, it is noted that there were "a significant increase in the number of researchers linked to the center with respect to the first evaluation, which will result in scientific production, technological processes and contribute to the formation of new human capital.”.

Finally, MinCiencias evidenced IDCBIS's capacity to generate high impact products, relevant to the scientific and academic society, and to society in general. "The entire infrastructure and scientific capabilities of the Institute are at the service of the city and the country, which will allow the creation of new alliances that are in line with the District's Development Plan."explained Dr. Bernardo Camacho.

The District Institute of Science, Biotechnology and Innovation in Health (IDCBIS) is celebrating its fourth anniversary and the 20th anniversary of the District Blood Bank, formerly known as the District Hemocenter.

In March 2017, the District Institute of Science, Biotechnology and Innovation in Health (IDCBIS) was formally created with 9 founding entities: the District Health Secretariat, the four Integrated Health Services Sub-Networks of the District, the National University of Colombia, Los Andes, Javeriana, and the National Institute of Cancerology. Subsequently, the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario joined the board of directors.

During these 4 years the Institute has established itself as a pioneering health research center that has contributed to the development of science in Bogota and the country, thanks to its management lines such as: District Tissue Bank, District Blood Bank, Advanced Therapies Unit, Umbilical Cord Blood Bank and the National Registry of Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Donors (DarCélulas).

Dr. Bernardo Camacho, director and manager of IDCBIS, said "we are proud to celebrate four years of service to the community, patients and science. Today we remember and celebrate the research, publications and contributions that have allowed our Institute to become a scientific heritage of our city and the country".

In addition to the celebration of the Institute, this year the District Blood Bank, formerly Hemocentro Distrital, completed 20 years in which it has established itself as a national and international reference bank for training and education of human talent in blood banking and transfusion services, capturing 673,817 donations and distributing 1,116,821 blood components.

Throughout these years the IDCBIS has worked permanently, not only in the promotion and strengthening of the culture of blood donation, but also of tissue donation, management that has made it worthy of the Civil Order of Merit "Dona Bogotá" in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, a decoration of the City Council.

The Advanced Therapies Unit is in charge of research and development of products in transfusion, tissue and cellular medicine for use at pre-clinical scale and in clinical trials. Through this unit, the generation of knowledge and innovation in biomedical sciences is promoted through the articulation of actors in science and technology, consolidating a team of highly trained researchers who annually accumulate new publications in scientific journals and doctoral and master's theses.

Bogota City Council awarded in 2020 the Order of Merit to IDCBIS for its contributions to organ and tissue donation.

As for the Cord Blood Bank, since its creation in 2013, more than 9,000 units have been collected and 47 pediatric patients with severe blood diseases in hospitals in Bogota and Medellin have received transplants.

Within the framework of these efforts made in the Advanced Therapies Unit and the Umbilical Cord Blood Bank, in 2020 the IDCBIS put at the service of the city and the country a laboratory called White Room, due to its maximum environmental control conditions (temperature, humidity, air pressure and pollution), being the only one in Colombia of this large size (280m2 approximately) and degree of complexity. These state-of-the-art facilities put the Institute in a position to strengthen national and international scientific cooperation agreements and position it as a leader in the region in innovation in cell therapy, gene therapy and tissue engineering.

In addition, in 2020 IDCBIS announced the launch of a molecular immunohematology laboratory, the first of its kind in the country and the second in Latin America, which aims to solve complex erythrocyte and platelet compatibility diagnoses through its advanced immunogenic technology.

Finally, the Registry of Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells Donors, also called DarCélulas, is a project that is in the pilot phase and already has more than 1,900 people registered, being the first program in Colombia in which potential donors of blood-forming cells for patients with serious diseases such as leukemias, lymphomas, aplasia, among others, are registered. To date, more than 17 million people have been impacted through social networks.

During these 4 years, the Institute has worked hard in a coordinated manner to take advantage of each of its strategic lines in a joint effort in which the lessons learned from all the actions carried out at the Institute are used, making it a national and international reference in biomedical sciences.

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The Advanced Therapies Manufacturing Functional Unit (GMP Clean Room) will consolidate a research platform for advanced therapies and biotechnology drug production.

The project "Implementation of the Public Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Bank and a Cell Therapy Unit, Hemocentro Distrital, District Health Secretariat, Bogotá", financed by the General Royalties System and the District Health Financial Fund of Bogotá, included the design and installation of a Clean Room or integrated unit for the manufacture of products for advanced therapies, umbilical cord blood processing and research laboratories.

This laboratory, called the Clean Room, due to its maximum environmental control conditions (temperature, humidity, air pressure and contamination), is the only one of this size (280m2 approximately) and degree of complexity in Colombia. These state-of-the-art facilities put the Institute in a position to strengthen national and international scientific cooperation agreements and position it as a leader in the region in innovation in cell therapy, gene therapy and tissue engineering.

The start-up of this Clean Room is an achievement for science in Bogota and the country and will be used, among others, for the development of new medical biotechnology products, including tissue processing, the manufacture of products for cell and gene therapy, and the processing of blood precursor cells for transplantation.

All this infrastructure placed at the service of science and the development of Bogota and the country is the result of the work that the IDCBIS (formerly the District Hemocenter) has been carrying out for several years, in which a team of highly trained researchers has been consolidated, annually accumulating new patents, publications in scientific journals and doctoral and master's theses.

The start-up of this Clean Room is a critical route to initiate the production in controlled pharmaceutical environments of advanced and innovative medicines that will later be subjected to clinical trials to determine their safety and clinical efficacy. Ultimately, this new phase constitutes a strong commitment by the Health Sector to promote science and technology.
biomedical research with a common goal, to find the solution to complex chronic and degenerative diseases that afflict our population.

The faces behind the implementation of the GMP Clean Room: Maryuris Milore, a girl from Barranquilla, who due to medullary aplasia (a disease where the bone marrow stops producing blood components), for several years was subjected to painful therapies and treatments, until in 2017 she received a transplant of blood-forming cells processed at the Public Cord Blood Bank IDCBIS. From the transplant Maryuris, regained her full health and was able to return to her favorite activities such as skating and playing.

This is just one of the many research projects that will be enhanced and improved with the installation of the Advanced Therapies Manufacturing Functional Unit (GMP Clean Room), a state-of-the-art infrastructure that will allow moving from the research phase to the application phase of medical products and technologies that are already being developed at the Institute, where the scientific method is used to solve problems that are still unsolved.

Who will benefit from the products obtained in the future in the IDCBIS Clean Room laboratories?

1. Patients with severe hematological diseases such as leukemias and lymphomas.
2. Patients with primary immunodeficiencies
3. Patients with inborn errors of metabolism
4. Cancer immunotherapy
5. Patients with complex orthopedic conditions.
6. Patients with autoimmune diseases
7. Patients with neurodegenerative diseases

The District Institute of Science, Biotechnology and Innovation in Health - IDCBIS, was elected for the fourth consecutive year by the Council as the deserving recipient of the Order of Social Responsibility Donate Bogota in the category that recognizes individuals and associations that have worked or made efforts to encourage and promote the culture of organ and tissue donation for transplantation and implantation purposes in the capital.

This award recognized the work carried out by IDCBIS through its District Tissue Bank, the only multipurpose bank in the country and the first in Latin America with development and standardization in acellular dermis to favor the regeneration of definitive skin in burned patients. The Bank has INVIMA certification in GMP for ocular tissue, skin and amniotic membrane, and is also a Latin American reference in donor selection, rescue, processing, storage and distribution of human tissues for implant purposes.

Dr. Bernardo Camacho, Director of IDCBIS, thanked the honorable Council of Bogota for this award, but especially praised the families of deceased donors and those who generously and altruistically gave their authorization in life to give another chance of life to patients who have required an organ or tissue transplant. He also invited the general population to join the culture of donation, which has been so affected by the pandemic.

In what circumstances is tissue donated?

Organs and tissues can be obtained from living or deceased donors.
In the case of living donors, appropriate conditions must be guaranteed to minimize as much as possible the risks assumed by the person who wishes to voluntarily donate tissue, following the legal and medical requirements already established.
In terms of tissues, corneas, skin, bones, bone marrow, blood vessels, heart valves, cartilage, tendons, sclera and amniotic membrane can be transplanted.

Researchers at the Advanced Therapies Unit of the IDCBIS (District Institute of Science, Biotechnology and Innovation in Health) are making progress in the research on the biology of the mesenchymal cells and its possible applications in medicine that allow to improve the quality of life of patients with different conditions, since it has been observed that they modulate adverse reactions in different diseases, especially in degenerative and autoimmune diseases.

Mesenchymal cells regenerate and repair damaged tissues and replace cells that routinely die, they are characterized by a great capacity for expansion and differentiation, which allows them to renew themselves easily and give rise to various cell types, such as bone, adipose and cartilage cells; they also have the capacity for tissue regeneration, aiding healing, preventing cell death and facilitating the formation of new blood vessels.

The IDCBIS laboratories are researching and evaluating the potential of mesenchymal stem cells, which are extracted from umbilical cords donated by Colombian mothers, to reduce inflammation and regulate the activity of immune system cells in multiple diseases.

In addition, tissue engineering research is focused on the generation of structures that support mesenchymal stem cells for the regeneration/repair of skin (burns and ulcers), bone (fractures and bone loss) and cartilage (osteoarthritis).

At the same time, simulation models are being developed using mesenchymal cells to recreate metabolic diseases of genetic origin and thus evaluate the efficacy of the drugs used in these pathologies.

Currently the only approved treatment in the world is the transplantation of blood-forming cells present in the bone marrow or in peripheral blood taken from a donor or from the patient himself. Other treatments involving the use of stem cells, as in the research carried out at IDCBIS, are in the experimental phase.

This research project, among others currently being developed at IDCBIS, is being carried out under the leadership of the Institute's Director, Dr. Bernardo Camacho, who was recently re-elected as the Institute's leader by unanimous vote of the Board of Directors, composed of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, the Universidad Nacional, the Universidad de Los Andes, the Instituto Nacional de Cancerología and the Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá - Secretaría Distrital de Salud together with the integrated health services sub-networks: Centro Oriente, Sur Occidente and Norte.

The DarCélulas program is a possible hope for patients in need of blood-forming cell transplantation, also known as bone marrow transplantation.

● DarCélulas already has more than 2,300 people registered in Bogotá.
● From now on, interested parties living in Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla will also be able to register.

Seven out of ten patients with severe blood diseases who need a transplant do not find a compatible donor in their family, so it is necessary to look for a match in genetically similar people even if they do not have a blood link. That is the challenge of DarCélulas: to create the database of potential donors who could save the lives of patients with serious blood diseases.

DarCélulas, led by the District Institute of Science, Biotechnology and Innovation in Health (IDCBIS), was born in 2019 within the framework of the Project "National Registry of Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells Donors in Colombia" with funding from the Science, Technology and Innovation Fund of the General System of Royalties and the District Administration of Bogota.

The program is in the pilot phase and already has more than 2,300 people enrolled, being the first program in Colombia in which potential donors of blood-forming cells to patients with serious diseases such as lymphoma, aplasia, among others, are registered.It is important to clarify that people who join the registry may not donate cells, as they will only be called if a genetically compatible patient requires the transplant.

"This registry is a life option for hundreds of Colombians who in the future may need a bone marrow transplant, today correctly called hematopoietic progenitor cell transplant. Valuable cells circulate in each of their veins and provide hope for others." said Dr. Bernardo Camacho, Director of IDCBIS.

In this phase of the project, the registration of potential donors and their genetic typing is carried out so that when the project becomes viable, search processes for patients can be activated.

This type of initiative is already being carried out in other countries such as Japan, New Zealand and the United States. In Latin America it has been carried out in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.

The experience of creating the registry in Bogota has shown that the majority of people interested in being part of the database are women (73%). In terms of their profiles, 40% are regular blood or apheresis donors, 8% are relatives of people with serious blood diseases, and 52% are the general population.

Until now, registration was only available for the capital city of the country, but from now on, interested parties residing in Medellin, Barranquilla and Cali will also be able to register. The registration process is safe and fast. To learn more you can access

https://idcbis.org.co/darcelulas

The District Tissue Bank IDCBIS (District Institute of Science, Biotechnology and Innovation in Health) in collaboration with the Advanced Therapies Unit is leading a research project that could help people who have suffered severe alterations in their corneas to recover, especially if they have suffered burns or severe allergies, such as Steven-Johnson syndrome.

The research line is in its first phase and its main objective is to advance in the culture of limbal cells, a type of cell capable of self-renewing and regenerating the corneal epithelium.

Mauricio Latorre, medical director of ocular tissue at the IDCBIS District Tissue Bank, states that any person who has deficiencies at the corneal limbus level could benefit from this treatment and, if proven effective, the patient would not have to rely on amniotic membrane grafts or chemical medications to counteract his condition and could instead have access to direct cell recovery that would prevent further deterioration.

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Currently, an alternative for people with adverse conditions in the corneas is transplantation, a solution that despite the cultural change that has been seen in Colombia in recent years in terms of tissue donation, is still limited in part by the proliferation of myths, this accentuated with the pandemic that forced medical personnel to increase the selection criteria for potential donors and extreme epidemiological measures and tests to ensure the biosafety of each of the potential tissues for transplantation.

Dr. Latorre explained that although the research is at an early stage, the results obtained so far are promising.

Statement 1.

Call for Financial Support for Doctoral Student Related to Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Donation and Transplantation in Colombia

View press release here

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Continuing with the exercise of the continuous search for international scientific cooperation and thus strengthen knowledge networks with experts in different areas of knowledge, we have received the delegation of the mission of Lazio - Italy in Bogota, who learned firsthand the research capabilities and projects led by IDCBIS.

These initiatives are possible because the IDCBIS is registered as a flagship project of Bogota and is part of the Biopolo area of the Smart Specialization Strategy of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce.

The Smart Specialization of the Bogota Region is an integrated agenda for productive development built collectively for the transformation of Bogota and Cundinamarca based on knowledge and innovation. A dynamic strategy that responds to regional capabilities and international trends for the generation of projects.

Five areas were prioritized for its implementation, made up of a set of productive activities, some of them consolidated and others barely emerging: Bogota Creative Region, Bio-pole, Business Services, Advanced Knowledge HUB and Sustainable City Region.

The IDCBIS is part of the group called Bio-pole, which refers to the development of life sciences, including technologies and productive activities pertaining to agriculture and agro-industry, fine chemistry and health.

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Leader of Advanced Immunohematology at IDCBIS becomes the first Colombian to be a member of the "ISBT Working Party on Rare Donors".

The Ministry of Science recognized the District Institute of Science, Biotechnology and Innovation in Health (IDCBIS) as a Research Center for 5 years.

IDCBIS celebrates four years at the service of science and the lives of Colombians

The District Institute of Science, Biotechnology and Innovation in Health (IDCBIS) is celebrating its fourth anniversary and the 20th anniversary of the District Blood Bank, formerly known as the District Hemocenter.

The district institute of science, biotechnology and innovation in health puts at the service of science and health the first gmp clean room in Bogota.

The Advanced Therapies Manufacturing Functional Unit (GMP Clean Room) will consolidate a research platform for advanced therapies and biotechnology drug production.

Who will benefit from the products obtained in the future in the IDCBIS Clean Room laboratories?

Bogota City Council awarded in 2020 the Order of Merit to IDCBIS for its contributions to organ and tissue donation.

In what circumstances is tissue donated?

Researchers advance the use of mesenchymal cells to improve patients' quality of life

National call for proposals to help patients with serious blood diseases opens

IDCBIS investigates potential treatment for the recovery of patients with corneal disorders

Announcement 1. Call for Support for PhD Students

Delegation of researchers from Lazio - Italy visits IDCBIS in search of international cooperation.

Primera patente concedida al IDCBIS en el uso de células mesenquimales

Bogotá da un paso adelante de mano de la ciencia y la investigación con el proyecto pionero en salud “Donantes Únicos”

¿Por qué son tan importantes las donaciones O- en este momento?

¿Cómo surgieron los bancos de sangre?

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