TERC - TecnATox Extended Research Consortium (TERC) is an interdisciplinary research consortium of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) created to foster high-impact, excellence-driven research within the institution. The initiative was conceived as a strategic extension of the TecnATox center, expanding its research community by incorporating new URV research groups in order to address, in an integrated manner, complex challenges related to environmental toxicology, nutrition, sustainability, and data science.
TERC brings together expertise in complementary fields such as toxicology, analytical chemistry, engineering, biomedical sciences, nutritional epidemiology, and artificial intelligence, promoting collaborative, cross-disciplinary research with a strong societal impact. The consortium is led by Dr. Mònica Bulló, Director of TecnATox, and includes the participation of 10 SGR research groups from URV.
The consortium's principal investigators include Dr. Eduard Llobet (MINOS), Dr. Domènec Puig (ITAKA), Dr. Rosa María Marcé (CROMA), Dr. Aïda Valls (ITAKA), Dr. Begoña Muguerza (NTG), and Dr. Nerea Becerra, a young researcher from the NUTRISAM group. The consortium also integrates well-established researchers from various SGR groups and CNEAI evaluation areas, including Maria Teresa Colomina (NEUROLAB), Jaume Folch (NUMEH), Francisco Andrade (CHEMOSENS), Jordi Blanco (NEUROAB), Jordi Riu (CHEMOSENS), Margarita Torrente and Joaquim Rovira (LTSM), Anna Pedret (NFOC-health), Núria Fontanals (CROMA), Josep M. del Bas (NTG), and Fátima Ezahara (MINOS).
Thanks to this multidisciplinary composition, TERC covers five key CNEAI areas: Chemistry (Area 2), Cellular and Molecular Biology (Area 3), Biomedical Sciences (Area 4), Engineering and Architecture (Area 6), and Social, Behavioral, and Educational Sciences (Area 7).
The consortium's flagship research project, entitled "A Multifactorial Approach Integrating Nutrition, Toxicology, and Environmental Factors to Promote Healthy Aging and Mitigate Physical and Cognitive Decline and Dementia (MINTED)", proposes an integrated, multifactorial approach to promote healthy aging and to prevent physical and cognitive decline, as well as dementia, through the combined analysis of nutritional, toxicological, and environmental factors.