Special Interview with Prof. Francesc Palau - Journal of Translational Genetics and Genomics
On October 18, 2022, the Editorial Office of Journal of Translational Genetics and Genomics (JTGG, Online ISSN: 2578-5281) had the honor to interview Prof. Francesc Palau from the Department of Genetic and Molecular Medicine, Sant Joan de Déu Children's Hospital, Barcelona, Spain.
Prof. Palau is the recipient of the Mejor Trayectoria Profesional en el campo de las Enfermedades Raras(AELMHU 2022). He currently serves as the Editorial Board member of JTGG and has published two articles in JTGG in 2022. One review titled Genetic approaches and pathogenic pathways in the clinical management of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease was published on August 1, 2022, and the other review titled Diagnostic strategies in patients with undiagnosed and rare diseases was published on July 4, 2022. During the interview, he talked about how the hospital promotes collaboration between basic and clinical researchers and establishes scientific interaction between new technologies to promote the clinical translation of new research results and new multi-omics technologies. In addition, he shared a focus of their current research, that is, to understand the connections between different tissues in a cell to explain the pathogenesis of the disease. Furthermore, he shared what he learned from research work: to be curious, to be positive, and to do research not just for the research itself but also to think about its social value. Finally, he also talked about some hot research topics in the field of translational genetics and genomics.
Interviewee introduction:
Prof. Francesc Palau is the Head of the Department of Genetic and Molecular Medicine and Director of the Pediatric Institute of Rare Diseases (IPER) of the Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital in Barcelona, where he also directs the Research Institute. He is currently the coordinator of the Strategy on Rare Diseases of the National Health System and Orphanet-Spain. In addition, he is a research professor at the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and visiting professor of pediatrics at the University of Barcelona’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Among his recognitions are the Queen Sofia Award for the Prevention of Deficiencies (2004) and the 2012 Research Prize of the Spanish Alliance of Rare Diseases.
Prof. Palau’s research group is part of the Center for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), for which he served as scientific director from October 2006 to February 2016. He has been a member of prestigious international committees such as the Scientific Committee of the Fondation de Maladies Rares in France (since 2012), the Scientific Program Committee of the European Society of Human Genetics (2012-2015), and the European Union Committee of Experts of Rare Diseases (EUCERD, 2010-2013). His scientific work focuses on studying the genetic and pathophysiological bases of neuromuscular and neurodevelopmental diseases and on translational research of rare diseases.
The Editorial Office of JTGG will continue to release more special interview series and build a multi-channel communication platform for more scholars in genetics.
Respectfully Submitted by the Editorial Office
Journal of Translational Genetics and Genomics
