Biodonostia will keep its place among the elite of Spanish Health Research Institutes for another 5 years. The Osakidetza research centre, with the OSI Donostialdea at its heart, was the first Health Research Institute to obtain this award in the Basque Country (in October 2011). In recent months, the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) has assessed the research and innovation work carried out at Biodonostia over these 5 years, concluding that the centre should remain among the Health Institutes accredited in Spain, being the twelfth of its kind to pass a second test.

The core mission of Health Research Institutes is to proceed with translational research of the highest quality, conveying the results of basic, clinical, epidemiological and public health research to the health system, to patients and to the general public. The aim is to use the knowledge generated by biomedical research to treat and prevent diseases and to achieve better health and quality of life among the population.

The ISCIII observed that Biodonostia has succeeded in meeting these objectives and that in these 5 years the Institute has shown an upwards and highly satisfactory evolution. The institute has improved the lead indicators of scientific activity and productivity: it has 389 researchers (compared to the 281 of 2011), has progressed from 114 funded projects to 323 and from the 746 original publications to 1,928. Furthermore, the ISCIII highlighted that the Institute has “succeeded in structuring joint research between professionals at the IIS Biodonostia and the OSI Donostialdea, having created a space and atmosphere for collaboration between basic research, clinical research and care work, with a young, lively and close-knit team that has its eyes increasingly focussed on innovation”, according to the audit report.

Biodonostia has succeeded in promoting health in the province of Gipuzkoa, within the scope of Osakidetza and is now a benchmark centre in the fields of research and innovation in this scope.  eFor the Health Minister, Jon Darpón, this new accreditation, in addition to enabling the centre to participate in ground-breaking research calls and projects worldwide, lends enormous backing to the work carried out at Biodonostia and to the Basque Government’s Research and Innovation Strategy which has its sights set on promoting research and innovation to improve results in the health of Basque men and women and to boost the economic development of the Basque Country.

With this  new accreditation, Biodonostia opens a new phase with the new strategic plan to be based on study of aging, precision medicine and promoting innovation throughout the OSI Donostialdea.