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13 April 2021- In 2020, the Aragón Health Research Institute achieved reaccreditation as a center of excellence in biomedical research for the next five years.
- The organization has more than 1.100 researchers organized into 101 groups that carry out their work in six research programs.
The Aragón Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón) closed the 2020 financial year with 80 research projects, 450 active clinical trials and more than 120 collaborations with companies and entities. The year 2020 was marked by the adaptation effort necessary by all researchers to develop prevention, diagnosis and treatment studies of COVID-19, an objective to which IIS Aragón allocated more than 1,2 million euros. On the other hand, the entity achieved reaccreditation as a center of excellence in biomedical research granted by the Ministry of Science and Innovation through the Carlos III Health Institute for the next five years.
The IIS Aragón also consolidates its international presence thanks to its explicit and proactive commitment to attract European funds that promote its programs and give them external projection, in addition to becoming an attractive center for scientists from all over the world.
The institute received the support of Aragonese society through the donation collection campaign Investigate COVID-19, which, since its launch in March 2020, has raised almost 150.000 euros through companies and individuals, which demonstrates a greater connection of citizens with the research activity of the Aragonese organization.
Thanks to these contributions, to those of the Carlos III Health Institute, to those of the Government of Aragon With its own funds, the IIS Aragón has launched 14 research projects and seven clinical trials related to SARS-COV-2 in which its scientific staff participates.
Reaccreditation
Another of the main milestones achieved in 2020 by the IIS Aragón is its reaccreditation as a center of excellence in biomedical research. This recognition is obtained after passing an audit carried out by the Carlos III Health Institute, which has validated the IIS Aragón as a center with the strategy, resources and capabilities necessary to develop research of excellence in the health field and aimed at produce an impact on improving the quality of life of citizens.
This certification also reinforces IIS Aragón's intention to establish itself at an international level. During 2020, the institute submitted 29 project proposals to the different European calls and five new international projects were launched. Likewise, IIS Aragón has become part of EATRIS, the European infrastructure network for translational medicine to which the 100 leading health research centers on the continent belong.
One of the challenges for the future, and which is expected to also contribute to its external promotion, lies in promoting transversality and promoting a program that allows the IIS Aragón to incorporate consolidated researchers from the branch of Engineering and other non-specialties into its hospitals. health that may be relevant, thus promoting multidisciplinary research that provides solutions to problems through the development of innovative projects in the health field.
New spaces
To this end, spaces dedicated to this purpose have been set up at the Lozano Blesa University Clinical Hospital where, in the coming weeks, nine initiatives will be launched that promote the participation of basic and clinical researchers. Within this framework of action, collaborations will also be promoted with entities such as Itainnova, research institutes of the University of Zaragoza and others in the regional, national and international environment.
Along the same lines, another of the objectives of the IIS Aragón is to promote the transfer of knowledge and technology, for which a program will be launched to facilitate the creation of spin-offs from the Aragonese organization to promote an innovative business culture. that will open a new line to transfer research results to clinical practice as well as to society in general.
Research lines
During 2020, simultaneously with the projects related to COVID-19, all IIS Aragón lines of research have remained active through its six programs: Neuroscience, mental health and sense organs; Technologies and innovation applied to health; Immunity, cancer and diseases of infectious origin or molecular basis; Cardiovascular, metabolism and nutrition; Research and innovation in nursing and health care; and Public health, chronicity, health services and primary care. More than 1.100 researchers work there, organized into 101 research groups.
The Minister of Health of the Government of Aragon and president of the IIS Aragón board of trustees, Sira Repollés, values the reaccreditation of the IIS Aragón as an institute of excellence in health research. “This recognition has been possible thanks to the extraordinary capacity of our professionals to develop quality research and innovation in the field of health and to the enormous work they have done to become a benchmark in health research,” highlights Repollés about the professionals of the IIS Aragón, who “have dedicated themselves this year to the development of research projects related to COVID-19.”
For his part, the scientific director of the IIS Aragón, Ángel Lanas, highlights that the reaccreditation of the IIS Aragón as a center of excellence “is a source of pride for all of us” and highlights “the great work that our healthcare workers have done in the scientific field.” and assistance during the pandemic, which has made us prioritize COVID-19 without forgetting the rest of the lines of research in which we work.”