Dra. Nuria Palau Balaña

I obtained my bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Barcelona in 2000. After graduation, I started the experimental work for the Advanced Studies Diploma (DEA) at the peroxisomal diseases laboratory of the Clinical Biochemistry Institute of the Clínic Sanitary Corporation, where I performed a mutational screening of the ABCD1 gene in patients with X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy. Then, for a short period of time, I worked as a laboratory technician at the Muscular Dystrophy Laboratory at the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona, where I participated in a linkage study of dominant limb-girdle muscular dystrophies. In 2002, I began my doctoral thesis at the Diabetes and Obesity Laboratory of the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute, where I developed several projects for the study of beta cell plasticity, although my doctoral thesis specifically focused on the involvement of adipose tissue in beta cell plasticity. In 2008, I was hired by the Biobank of the Hospital de Sant Joan de Reus as a technical coordinator of the Neuropsychiatric Diseases Node of the National DNA Bank, and for 2 years, I acquired extensive knowledge in the organization and quality management of biobanks.
Currently, since 2011, I have been working as a lab-manager at the VHIR IMID-Biobank, a biobank specialized in autoimmune diseases directed by Dr. Sara Marsal, which has allowed me to expand my previous experience in the field of biobanks. During these years, I have also been part of the VHIR-Rheumatology Research Group (GRR) and I have participated in different research projects for the study of autoimmune diseases.