IBEC and EF Clif combine expertise to fight liver failure

The five-year agreement will enable the two organizations to share staff and knowledge, apply for funding together and otherwise collaborate with the goal of improving knowledge of the mechanisms of chronic liver failure and increasing survival rates for patients.

Within the framework of the Visiting Researcher Agreement in the MoU, IBEC is already hosting a liver specialist, Jonel Trebicka (pictured), Head of the University of Bonn’s Laboratory for Liver Fibrosis and Portal Hypertension in its Department of Internal Medicine. During his visit in Xavier Trepat’s Integrative Cell and Tissue Dynamics group, Prof. Trebicka is studying the mechanobiology of stellate cells in liver fibrosis, harnessing the expertise of the IBEC group in cell mechanics and migration, including traction force and confocal microscopy, durotaxis assays and magnetic cytometry.

The EF Clif is a private non-profit organization aimed which promotes research and education in chronic liver failure, improving the quality of life and increasing the survival of patients with liver cirrhosis. It has more than a hundred associated university hospitals in 25 countries.

IBEC now has nearly 40 MoUs with international institutions or organizations.