Visitas

Marisol Fragoso met Valentina Polylas, EUREGHA Network Director (European regional and local health authorities). Polylas visited Navarrabiomed with Mikel Irujo, Management Director of External Action, Citizen Relations Department of the Government of Navarra, to know about the public biomedical research carried out in Navarra.

Marisol Fragoso presented the center's funding model, its activity and processes, as well as its coordination with the public administration. In addition, she put forward to strategic alliances and professional synergies in biomedical research and in European cooperation throughout the meeting.

The day ended with a working session organized by the Government of Navarra focused on funding opportunities in health sector for the next european period 2021-2027. Valentina Polylas and Anett Ruszanov, project manager of the ERRIN Network (Research and Innovation Network of the European Regions) were some of the speakers as well as other relevant professionals from Navarre institutions and companies.

A team of representatives from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently visited Pamplona in search of potential collaborators in the field of entrepreneurship and biomedicine.

The US delegation included Klaus R. Schleicher, Director of Corporate Relations at MIT, and Eduardo Garrido, Program Director at MIT’s Office of Corporate Relations. They were welcomed by Manu Aierdi, Minister of Economic Development and Business of Navarre. The team from the Regional Government of Navarre also included Izaskun Goñi, General Director of Business, Internationalization and Work Policies; Carlos Artundo, Director-General for Health; Yolanda Blanco, Director-General for Industry, Energy and Strategic S3 Projects; and Roi Villar, Chief of Staff for the Department of Universities, Innovation and Digital Transformation.

The team’s stay in Pamplona was kicked off with a visit to Navarrabiomed’s biomedical research centre, where a meeting was held with members of the technical work committee for the personalized healthcare strategy. Iñigo Lasa, Director of Navarrabiomed, and Angel Alonso, Principal Investigator of the Genomic Medicine Unit, also attended the meeting. 

The MIT representatives then visited the facilities of the Centre for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), the Navarran European Business Innovation Centre (CEIN) and the Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA).

This collaboration with the American biomedical industry is expected to continue in the next few months. Potential partnerships will be explored through future group visits such as those of students in the Harvard Biotechnology Club, businesspeople and research personnel, as well as the attendance of some of these visitors at BioSpain 2020, an international meeting held in Pamplona in September.

The President of the Government of Navarra, María Chivite, chaired today a meeting at the biomedical research centre Navarrabiomed, getting acquainted with its lines of activity and its headquarters in the Navarra Hospital Complex (CHN), in Pamplona/Iruña.

According to Navarrabiomed Director Iñigo Lasa, the number of implemented projects grew by 33 per cent in 2016. Currently, Navarrabiomed takes part in 92 Spanish and 9 international research project and networks. All this activity has led to a 35 per cent increase in scientific output between 2016 and 2019.

Navarrabiomed is a joint centre of the Government of Navarra and the Public University of Navarra (UPNA) for the promotion of publicly-funded quality research. Navarrabiomed is part of ADItech Technology Corporation and the Navarra Medical Research Institute (IdiSNA), which gets 4 million Euro a year from the Government of Navarra. Its purpose is to develop public-private initiatives aimed at strengthening the biomedical industry in Navarra.

In 2019, Miguel Servet Foundation got 3 million Euro for technology centres from the Government of Navarra.

Over 100 researchers

At present, as many as 121 researchers work at Navarrabiomed, grouped into 20 Units and four Platforms operating in ten different fields: Oncology, Neuroscience, Cardiology, Protein Structure, Active & Healthy Lifestyle, Epidemiology, Digestive System, Genomic Medicine, Big Data and Bioengineering, and Infectious Diseases. At the meeting, attendees learnt about the most relevant projects in each field.

According to Dr Lasa, Navarrabiomed is managed from Miguel Servet Foundation, which also sponsors research projects by 27 groups comprising 283 health professionals from other public centres, such as CHN, the network of primary health care centres, and the Navarra Public and Occupational Health Institute (ISPLN).

During her visit, Ms Chivite met the Navarrabiomed team and took a tour of the labs and platforms. She was particularly interested in the Laboratory Animal Facilities and the Experimental Operating Theatre, the Physical Examination Lab to prevent frailty in elderly people, and the Tissue Biobank.

Ms Chivite was accompanied by the Centre’s authorities and by representatives of the Health Department and the University, Innovation and Digital Transformation Department of the Government of Navarra – as part of the series of visits to several research centres –, as well as by representatives of the Economic and Business Development Department and a delegation of UPNA, headed by the Dean.

The visitors were welcomed by Marisol Fragoso, Management Director of Navarrabiomed, and by Dr Lasa. Ms Chivite chaired a session focusing on the Centre’s most relevant scientific activity, attended by Juan Cruz Cigudosa, Head of the University, Innovation and Digital Transformation Department; Carlos Artundo, Director-General for Health; Ana Burusco, Director-General for Universities; Agurtzane Martínez, Director-General for Innovation; Yolanda Blanco, Director-General for Industry, Energy and S3 Strategy Projects, from the Economic and Business Development Department; Ramón Gonzalo and Francisco Javier Arregui San Martín, Rector and Vice-Rector for Research at UPNA; Alfredo Martínez and María Zandio, Managing Director and Medical Director of CHN; and Javier Abad, Head of the Knowledge Management, Assessment and Planning Service.

During their two-day journey, organised by the representative of the Government of Navarra in Brussels, Mikel Irujo, the Romanian delegation had interviews with the manager of ADItech Technology Corporation and visited four technology centres – the National Renewable Energy Centre (CENER), the Navarra Industrial Society (AIN), Navarrabiomed and Lurederra.

In Bulgaria they are working on the operational programme for innovation and competitiveness for the 2012-2017 financial period, budgeted at about 1200 million Euro. In search of good practices and technical assistance agreements, the Bulgarian delegation was interested in the coordination of technology centres as provided for in the Navarra Science and Technology Act, passed in June at the request of the Economic Development Department.

It is the purpose of the Act to make arrangements in the Navarra R&D+i System (SINAI), promote excellence and cooperation with the manufacturing industry, identify all SINAI actors and establish a registry for them, as well as a list of research teams and staff members, and establish an R&D+i advisory board and an R&D+i observatory.

On the whole, the Bulgarian delegation was comprised of eight people: Tzvetan Spassov, Stefka Pileva-Malinovska and Ivan Ilkov, from the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science; Rossana Mateva and Rosen Draganov, from the Ministry of Economy; Desislava Koleva, on behalf of the municipality of Gabrovo; Nikolinka Hinkova, representing the private sector in the area of mechatronics; and Vera Markova, expert in government coordination at the Council of Ministers.

Photo: Mikel Irujo, representative of the Government of Navarra in Brussels, with the members of the Bulgarian delegation at Navarrabiomed.