Research Area - What We Do

Our aim is to improve Global Health through excellence in research focusing in two wide research areas:

• infectious diseases
• non communicable diseases & environment

Where Do We Come From?

The current ISGlobal is the fruit of a merger between the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) that took place in June 2016.

Therefore, ISGlobal has two campuses, each one with its own history.

Campus Clínic

When Barcelona's Hospital Clínic created Spain's first tropical medicine unit in 1984, it laid the groundwork for the introduction and the development of this field in the country. Building on this base, in 2006 we founded the Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB), which four years later became a national and international reference in global health. CRESIB was also the cornerstone for the creation of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) in 2010. With the creation of ISGlobal, the task of treating tropical diseases was complemented and supported not only by the knowledge generated through research but also by the transfer of this knowledge to society.

In 2014, the CRESIB Board of Trustees approved the dissolution of CRESIB as a separate legal entity and set in motion the full integration of the centre's research activity into ISGlobal in 2015.

Campus Mar

The Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) was created at the end of 2005 with the mission of promoting and developing advanced epidemiological research into the environmental factors that affect human health, in order to help prevent and control their harmful effects. CREAL was an initiative of the Generalitat de Catalunya with the collaboration of Parc de Salut Mar from Barcelona and Universitat Pompeu Fabra. CREAL's research followed the scientific work that was initially based at the Unit of Respiratory and Environmental Research (URRA) of the Hospital del Mar Research Centre (IMIM).

On June 30th 2016, following three years of strategic alliance, CREAL merged with ISGlobal. The resulting institution retained the ISGlobal name.

How Do We Do It?

We promote multidisciplinary, translational and cross-cutting research in order to maximize our impact.

We currently have five research programmes.

In addition, we support five transversal hubs that promote internal and external interdisciplinary collaboration, knowledge sharing and dissemination of research, training and translational needs in key areas.

ISGlobal has two advisory bodies: the Academic Committee (AC) and the External Advisory Committee (EAC). Their main task is to assess scientific activities, research programmes and the strategic plan. These committees are also responsible for evaluating the institute's faculty researchers.

Where Do We Do It?

Although both our campuses are in Barcelona, ISGlobal's activity is global in scope. In addition to the countries where we are currently taking part in research projects, we maintain a stable presence in Africa and Latin America through three research platforms:

• Bolivia and Paraguay
• Morocco
• Mozambique