Daniel Orós: "Aragon must create a research ecosystem that facilitates the development of projects"

We share this interview from ARAGÓN PRESS with Daniel Orós, scientific director of the Aragón Health Research Institute

Recently appointed Scientific Director from the Aragon Health Research Institute (IIS Aragon)the gynecologist and obstetrician Daniel Oros faces a new stage at the helm of one of the main engines of biomedical research of the community. After his first few weeks in office, he made a “very positive” assessment and identifies the main challenge as maintaining the level of excellence achieved by the institute during the last few years.

In conversation with ARAGÓN PRESS, Orós reflects on the need to strengthen thescientific talentto attract researchers and consolidate high-level projects. It considers this key. generate stability and enthusiasm among scientists to promote research that will ultimately have a direct impact on the health of the public.

You have recently been appointed scientific director of the Aragon Health Research Institute. What does taking on this role mean to you, and what is your assessment of this first month?

The overall assessment, so far, is very positive. It's a important challengeIt is an important, large, powerful institution, and fortunately, very well managed so far. That is precisely the challenge: to continue maintaining that level of quality. excellence that Ángel Lanas has achieved in these previous 15 years.

What are the main objectives you have set for yourself?

Now the institute is a mature institution that has already grown. What needs to be done is to continue maintaining the level of excellence, secure the researchers' positions, and be able to develop a biomedical research in Aragon of very high quality that can have a positive impact on health.

There is a need to strengthen research talent. In a context of brain drain, what measures should be implemented to retain and attract scientists to Aragon?

This is a long-standing, endemic problem in Aragon. We're very close, for better or for worse, to Madrid and Barcelona. Ever since Ramón y Cajal, highly talented people have been forced to leave to continue their professional development. The solutions are twofold. The first, like any worker, is job and financial stability, but it's not the only one. We also need to foster a sense of purpose because in such vocational work as research, in addition to earning a salary and paying the mortgage, the person doing the research wants a project and a sense of purpose.

I believe Aragon needs to strive to be capable of to generate that illusion in the researchers And among scientists, so that they think that projects can be developed here and very interesting things can be done because that is the most important thing.

How can that illusion be generated?

Facilitating, across all institutions—from institutes and public organizations to universities—a research ecosystem that, within logical and coherent regulations, facilitates rather than hinders research. Ultimately, a research project isn't very different from starting a business. The environment, framework, and atmosphere in which you operate can make developing that project easier or more difficult. And a researcher will want to go to a place where they see their ideas will be more easily translated into reality.

Securing funding is crucial for any institute. What strategy will be followed to position itself for funding opportunities at both the national and European levels?

It's very important. Research is a highly competitive field And excellence is key. It's extremely competitive, so what Aragon and the institute need to do is create collaborative synergies between research groups that are already powerfulto become even more powerful. This will allow for competitive access to resources at both the national level, where competition is always with major centers like Madrid and Barcelona, ​​and at the European level.

At the European level, that's the Champions League. You really need a very solid team for that. We have that structure; we just need to keep developing it. In fact, it's grown a lot lately, and we're quite well-positioned to live up to the expectations of a city like Zaragoza and the Aragon region.

Speaking a little about yourself, how did that interest in medicine begin, and then in your specialty, Obstetrics and Gynecology?

The idea of ​​medicine comes from a family with many doctors. My grandfather was a rural doctor, and I saw him working as a village doctor from a young age, and I already thought it was a wonderful job. My father was a gynecologist, my sister is an anesthesiologist, my wife is a doctor… In total, there are probably twelve or fourteen doctors in my immediate family. I grew up in an environment where medicine is commonplace. I saw that my relatives enjoyed their work, and I thought—and I think I was right because I still love it—that it was a beautiful profession.

Gynecology is a wonderful specialty that aligns well with my personality. I specialize more in obstetrics, which deals with pregnancy, than in gynecology itself, and it's clear that having someone at home who worked in that field helped me get to know it better and develop a greater appreciation for it.

As you say, being a doctor is a wonderful profession, but I imagine it has its difficult moments. What are some of the challenges in this field?

Medicine is intense because you're close to human beings. Ninety percent of it is beautiful because it allows you to connect with a person's humanity and helps them. There's nothing more beautiful than earning a living by helping others. In bad times, because unfortunately things don't always go well. When something goes wrong, it's tough, that's obvious. That's the hard part. If you work in medicine, you have to accept that it will happen to you from time to time and that you have to know how to manage it emotionally.

The challenges are varied. There are professional challenges, which are currently at the forefront, and also scientific challenges in adapting medicine to today's society. Society is changing rapidly. We are in the midst of an industrial revolution—some say the fourth—driven by artificial intelligence. This, as in all commercial and business sectors, will change medicine, and it will change it significantly.

He is the principal investigator of the Placenta group at the Institute. What does he research?

El Placenta group She dedicates herself to studying the diseases that occur during pregnancy These conditions are related to poor placental development. Essentially, it occurs when the baby doesn't grow, which is when blood pressure rises during pregnancy or when the baby is premature. All of these conditions share, among other causes—though not exclusively—a problem with the placenta, the structure that nourishes the baby through the mother.

The group is made up of clinical obstetricians, staff from the clinical biochemistry department of the Hospital Clínico, and biologists. We have research lines ranging from highly clinical, directly related to clinical treatment, to more laboratory-based lines focused on the study of molecules at the biological level. We also have an area dedicated to developing rapid diagnostic tests to support clinical practice. Thanks to the group's structure, we aim to cover all aspects of development from the laboratory to the clinic—what is known as translational medicine.

Dedicating oneself to research is a long process…

You have to be patient. A researcher needs a good plan, a lot of persistence, and a lot of patience, because it's a slow process. It's very difficult to obtain results In the short term. A research project, from the moment you start writing it until you have publishable results, can easily take three, four, or five years.

What would you say to future doctors who want to dedicate themselves to the field of research?

It's exciting. Furthermore, the advantage we doctors have is that you can maintain your clinical involvement and contact with the patient, which is very satisfying, but you can enrich it greatly with that research aspect.

Research helps you stay much more up-to-date because you have to read and study a lot. It helps you to delve deeper into the problems And besides, I see it as the natural way forward. I enjoy research because, while seeing patients, I identify areas for improvement and I want to address them. The way to improve something you do every day is to research how to improve it. It's very applied and practical research: what can I do to improve something that I see isn't working perfectly yet?

She also teaches at the University of Zaragoza. What does she gain from being in contact with future doctors?

It's very beautiful. It's seeing another facet of medicine, which is the initial and continuousBeing in contact with people who are 18 or 25 years old, who are still training, is very inspiring. It also helps you ask questions and stay up-to-date. It's a very enriching part. It's probably the part that brings the most joy and the fewest disappointments, because nothing too serious usually happens, and it's very rewarding. I think the three pillars—research, teaching, and clinical practice—are wonderful for feeling fulfilled as a person in your work.

Source: Aragón Digital