Quique Bassat, new member of SOMMa’s Executive Committee

The SOMMa Alliance (Alliance of Severo Ochoa Centers and María de Maeztu Units) has incorporated Quique Bassat, General Director of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), as a new member of its Executive Committee, following the election held on January 14, 2026.

Strengthening biomedical research and public health in SOMMa

With the incorporation of the general director of ISGlobal, SOMMa strengthens the presence of biomedical research and public health in its executive body, reinforcing its commitment to science aimed at social transformation and the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. In his candidacy, Bassat highlighted his experience in research evaluation and management, aligned with the principles of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) and with public health and global health debates promoted in the European Parliament.

An international career in global health

Quique Bassat is a pediatrician, ICREA Research Professor and he has served as general director of ISGlobal since January 2024. His work has focused on childhood malaria and other pediatric infectious diseases, as well as on the development of innovative tools to investigate causes of death in low-resource countries, such as minimally invasive autopsies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bassat stood out for his research in the pediatric population and his advice to Spanish authorities on the reopening of schools and child health, as well as an intense scientific outreach activity as spokesperson for the Spanish Society of Pediatrics.

Recently he was appointed “Honorary International Fellow” of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) and in 2024 he was elected by the European Parliament as one of its two representatives on the Management Board of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). In addition, in 2022 he received the Narcís Monturiol Medal for Scientific and Technological Merit.

SOMMa Executive Committee

The SOMMa Executive Committee is chaired by Antonio Molina, director of CBGP (UPM–INIA/CSIC), and includes Isabel Márquez, scientific director of IAA-CSIC, as first vice president, and Javier Aramayona, director of ICMAT (CSIC–UAM–UC3M–UCM), as second vice president. The Committee also includes Luis Vega, delegate for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence; Amparo López, director of IATA-CSIC and delegate of the Working Group on Knowledge, Transfer and Innovation (KTI); Josep Samitier Martí, delegate of the Managers Working Group; and María José Sanz, scientific director of BC3.