ISGlobal Expands Research Agenda in 2013

The year 2013 has been a period of growth for ISGlobal. Conscious of the fact that infectious diseases are not the only challenge faced by global health and of the growing importance of environmental factors and climate change in health, the Institute entered into an alliance with the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) with the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya. This alliance, which is the first step towards a merger, has increased the scope and size of ISGlobal, expanding its research agenda to include chronic non-transmissable diseases with special emphasis on environmental factors. With this alliance, CREAL joins the Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB), the institution that constitutes the backbone of ISGlobal's research activity.

Despite the complex and limiting financial environment that characterised the past year, ISGlobal and CRESIB maintained their excellence and their competitive edge, attracting funding from both public and private sources. For example, CRESIB has successfully attracted international funding to support the recruitment of talented young researchers (including a grant from the Ramon y Cajal programme, a Marie Curie post-doctoral fellowship and participation as a partner in an Initial Training Network). In terms of scientific output, the Institute's growth rate has been sustained, consolidating the stable trend of recent years. Most of these publications have been in the leading journals in the field.

The year also saw the graduation of the first class of the new Master of Global Health organised by ISGlobal and the University of Barcelona and of the first group to complete the Master in Clinical Research: International Health Track. The Master of Global Health is one of the first graduate programs in Spain to approach the subject from a multidisciplinary and global perspective. Another event that took place this year in Barcelona was the second edition of the leadership development course entitled The Science of Eradication: Malaria organised jointly by ISGlobal, Harvard University and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.

In the area of knowledge management, 2013 has seen the definitive consolidation of the ISGlobal Think Tank, which has built up a stable international team of consultants. During the year, the Think Tank organised the second edition of its international seminar to discuss global health issues, already an important event in the annual agenda of the sector.