Barcelona welcomes third annual MuscleTech Network event to prevent muscle and tendon injuries

Regenerative therapies, new imaging diagnostic tools, new analyses and their practical applications to injuries in adolescents and to help aid healthful ageing, in addition to a presentation on the therapeutic contributions of the FC Barcelona medical guide, are just some of the topics to be debated at the third MuscleTech Network Workshop: Muscle Injuries and Repair: Current Trends in Research.

This is the third annual workshop held by the MuscleTech Network, a muscle and tendon knowledge network that was created five years ago and presented publicly at a meeting held under the framework of the International Center for Scientific Debate (ICSD), an initiative of Biocat driven by "la Caixa” Welfare Projects. The workshops this year are being held on 27 and 28 September at the FC Barcelona facilities and are organized by the MuscleTech Network and the ICSD, with collaboration from the FC Barcelona Foundation, Leitat Technological Center, Fórum Egarsat del Músculo and the Government of Catalonia Secretariat General for Sport.

The workshops began this morning with an opening session with Eusebi Cima, president of Leitat; Jordi Monés, executive in the medical department with FC Barcelona; Montserrat Vendrell, CEO of Biocat; Juan Antonio Gutiérrez, head of sports medicine for the Secretariat General for Sport, and Maite Fandos, deputy mayor in charge of Quality of life and Sports for the Barcelona City Council.

Research, education and medical practice in sport

Over the two days, some sixty researchers and professionals from different fields of medicine and science in Europe and the United States will seek out new ways to drive cooperation among international hospital and university research groups. This meeting of the Muscletech Network and the ICSD is a chance to focus on new challenges and needs in this field in order to facilitate applications and technology transfer, and to join forces and create new research consortia for diagnosing, treating and preventing tendon and muscle injuries both in athletes and the general public.

Debate topics range from evaluating resistance tests as injury prediction elements to adolescent injuries and updating regenerative therapies for muscles and tendons, among others.

Noteworthy speakers include Dr. Johnny Huard, professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and Dr. Tom Best, associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and president of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Presentation of FC Barcelona medical guide

FC Barcelona is a pioneering sports club in medical research and the application of scientifically proven protocols to prevent and treat injuries in their athletes. The presentation of the FC Barcelona Clinical Practice Guide of tendon injuries will allow all professionals working with athletes to face muscle injuries in the same was FC Barcelona does, including guidelines on diagnosing, treating and preventing injuries.

• Press release in Spanish (27/9/2011)
• Press call in Catalan (27/9/2011, 9:30 am, at FC Barcelona)