ISGlobal Awarded Six PERIS Research Grants for 2016-2020

ISGlobal has been selected to receive six research grants in three categories, according to the preliminary list of grants just made public by the Catalan Health Department for the 2016-2020 Strategic Plan for Research and Innovation in Health (PERIS). The PERIS grants will distribute a total provisionally estimated at over €18 million to encourage research at hospitals and primary care centres in Catalonia.

The nearly 500 applications received were evaluated by 40 independent experts in a process coordinated by the Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS). A total of 177 applicants, selected for their excellence, will receive funding.

ISGlobal was awarded six research grants in three areas of activity. Four of the grants will fund the addition of new scientists and technicians to research groups—a category in which a total of 79 grants were awarded. Thanks to this funding, Ignasi Roca will join the Viral and Bacterial Infections group; Emili Letang will join the Maternal, Child and Reproductive Health group; Cristina O’Callaghan will join the Cancer group; and Michelle Turner will join the Radiation group.

ISGlobal will also receive a grant in the category of multicentre research projects at primary care facilities. This funding will make it possible for ISGlobal researcher Ana Requena to collaborate on a project coordinated by the Clínic Foundation for Biomedical Research: “Screening Immigrant Patients Using a Computer Tool Adapted to Clinical Histories in Primary Care (CRIB-MI)”. The final grant awarded to ISGlobal will allow researcher Juan Ramón González to participate in one of three major regional research programmes on personalised medicine: “Implementation of Personalised Genomics-Based Medicine in Undiagnosed Rare Neurological Diseases”, coordinated by Mar Health Park and the Hospital del Mar Institute for Medical Research (IMIM).

The Catalan Health Department’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation in Health highlighted the exceptional quality of most of the applications and the speed with which the various stages of the application process were completed. The grants were awarded in a public competitive process to ensure maximum transparency in the allocation of resources.