The ibs.GRANADA at the medical vanguard of Andalusia
The Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada is one of the main medical research centers in the region, with 850 linked researchers Research teams that work in the same city and in the same area, but who find out what others are working on when his experiment appears published in an international journal.
It may sound like a joke, but it is a much more frequent situation than it seems. The myth of the isolated sage in his ivory tower is very present in the scientific world. It is precisely to avoid this type of situation that initiatives such as the Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada appear. "People worked in isolation, without being linked," explains the scientific director of the Institute, Professor Nicolás Olea, who points out that the Institute was created as a meeting point to promote relations between the different research groups and make it possible collaboration between teams. An objective that had been sought for years but that was not possible if the structure to carry it out did not exist.
It is not the only challenge, it is also about transferring the results to the day-to-day care of patients in hospitals. “Clinical research and the population must be united, it must be able to contribute those resources”, explains Olea. The mission is to apply the procedures to the patients of Granada, so that all the investigations are related to the day-to-day medical needs of the population. The city has always had a long history of research related to medical research that was always closely linked to clinical practice in hospitals. Thanks to the Institute, two-way flows have been created with basic research projects, which have now been made possible by the groups of researchers attached to the Institute.
Many of these investigations have already been applied in Granada's health centers. Thus, for example, 300 patients infected with HIV or hepatitis viruses have been able to have children without transmitting the disease thanks to semen washing techniques. Or it has been possible to develop a drug capable of acting against the stem cells that start cancer. Artificial corneas have been created to treat patients with ocular degeneration. Or, skin has been produced for the first time from umbilical cord stem cells. An intelligent system, which is already in operation in tests, allows to accurately monitor the administration of medicines to patients. These three medical advances have a lot in common. In addition to responding to research carried out in Andalusia, the three have emerged, or have had support, from the Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada, a very young institution that has already managed to put itself at the forefront of medical research in Andalusia.
This institute officially began its operation in the summer of 2013. For almost a year they had been convening all the relevant research groups that were operating at the University of Granada and in the various public health centers. This is the main objective pursued by a center with these characteristics: to become a reference and a meeting point for researchers. In this way, efforts can be added and knowledge shared that can exponentially advance the scope of the investigation.
In the spotlight are the diseases and medical treatments with the highest incidence in the region. From the fight against AIDS to the latest advances against cancer, including the development of increasingly reliable and safe assisted reproduction techniques. The Institute brings together a multidisciplinary team of scientists made up of 856 researchers from different fields. They work under the orders of the University of Granada professor Nicolás Olea, who has held the position of Scientific Director of the Institution since its inception. For this year 2015 it has a total budget of more than 8,3 million euros. The organization of the center is based on five large research areas that are subdivided into 75 different work groups. Of these, 57 are considered consolidated, given the volume and quality of the published research, and 11 are emerging. "In other words, they are made up of researchers who have just started in this field, but who are carrying out very promising research," says Olea. The rest are groups associated with the institute.
Of the lines of research, one of the priorities is dedicated to the study of cancer, from a multidisciplinary point of view. We must not forget that Granada was one of the first provinces to have a registry of cancer cases that today works as a European reference in the study of the disease and the incidence of the different types of tumors according to population groups. . The second line deals with systemic, cardiovascular and neurological diseases. The third works with liver, digestive and infectious diseases. The fourth deals with endocrine and metabolic diseases. Lastly, there is a technical area that is in charge of advanced therapies and new biomedical technologies. Once the accreditation with the Carlos III Institute has been achieved, the Institute will open a new stage to reassess the scientific work that has been carried out. "See if there are shortcomings or if we have to restructure the research groups," says Olea.
The center will celebrate its third anniversary in 2015. It was created on March 14, 2012 by an agreement between the Ministry of Health of the Andalusian Government, the University of Granada, the Andalusian Health Service and the Public Foundation for Biosanitary Research of Eastern Andalusia - Alejandro Otero. This foundation, created in 2006, acts as the Institute's management body. It was through it that, after the launch of the Governing Council in July 2012, the first call for research groups that were interested in participating in this initiative was made. The requirements stressed the importance of investigations. Its managers had to accredit the associated publications and the relevance they had achieved in the scientific world. The Institute bases a good part of its strength on excellence and in this sense it relies on scientific publications and the relevance they achieve. "In these years, despite the crisis, we have managed to maintain and consolidate the number of publications in scientific journals," explains Olea.
The accreditation process at Carlos III, a step of the future If we talk about Health Research, the Carlos III Institute is the great reference. All the centers that deal with this branch have to receive their accreditation. The Biosanitary Institute of Granada is these days closing the process, in which they must demonstrate, among other points, that they meet the parameters required to maintain the quality of the research carried out and that it has all the required technical control areas and in full functioning. Those responsible for the center hope that the process will be completed next spring. There are currently 18 officially accredited research centers throughout Spain. In Andalusia there are similar institutes in Seville, Córdoba and Malaga. Being accredited by this institution makes it possible to access state-funded programs.
The importance of transfer
Part of the challenge of scientific production involves making it available to those who can make practical use of this knowledge and technology. "The transfer is key to the accreditation process," explains Olea. The best known procedure by which it is carried out is through the process of patenting or licensing the use of a technology or procedure, but it is not the only one. Another form of important transfer involves the development of practical guides for use in clinics.
It is, for example, to indicate what factors must be taken into account when diagnosing and treating an ailment. “It is a clear way in which the knowledge acquired in the research is applied in a practical way”, explains Olea. The third type of transfer is the one that usually goes unnoticed, but that does not mean that it does not happen frequently. It is the one based on the writing of technical reports on an area. "It's a way for the knowledge acquired to become part of the doctrine," says Olea, who cites the Granada Breast Milk Biobank as an example. Institute researchers have analyzed the quality and composition of the samples that are donated with the aim of regulating the conditions under which this service is provided, with the idea that it can be applied throughout Spain.