One of the most notable events of 2016 was the drafting and presentation of the new IMIM strategic plan for the 2016-2020 period, together with the incorporation in November of Joaquim Bellmunt as the new PSMAR research director and director of IMIM, replacing Rafael de la Torre, who had been the director since June 2015.

IMIM’s scientific production throughout 2016 remained stable compared to the previous year, representing a turning point with respect to the sustained growth of previous years. This is because 220 publications had been accepted but were not published before the end of the year - delays that have been increasing recently - and this may make it necessary to reconsider how publications are accounted in terms of the scientific production of a given center. In terms of scientific production, the percentage of articles published in journals with an impact factor was 92% (819/883) and the percentage of articles published in journals in the first quartile of their category was 61% (504/819).

The Innovation Unit has received UNE 166002 certification. The good results in innovation, both in Catalonia and in Spain in terms of scientific publications, contrasts with the reduced transfer of results - an aspect that bears improvement and that will require the allocation of more resources next year. In 2016, 2 new patents were formalized and there was 1 notarial registration, which is expected to be available for use for a new spin-off. A licence was obtained for a new patent in oncology at a European company in the field of biomarkers and the innovation club (Club de la Innovació) is worthy of mention: this is a new initiative that brings together each month professionals from different areas of the institution with innovation-oriented concerns.

Since January 2016, IMIM has submitted a total of 421 research grant applications, which means 40.8% more applications than were submitted in 2015, of which 24 are still awaiting a decision.  For the first time, the Department of Health of the Catalan government has issued a call for grant applications in health care as part of the Strategic Plan for Research and Innovation in Health Care (PERIS). IMIM has submitted a total of 63 proposals that received a ruling in 2017 and has obtained a total of 20 grants, for an approximate total amount of €3.5 million.

With regard to attracting competitive resources and personnel, the success rate of the ISCIII-FIS call was 46% (24 projects out of 52) - much higher than the average for Spain, which is currently at 30%. In 2016, we received, for the first time, grants for the research of accredited health care institutes, including the comprehensive excellence projects, projects to evaluate health care technologies and personnel.

Four projects submitted in the competitive calls for applications by the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) were approved. Signs indicate that our ability to attract competitive resources at state level has reached a limit that will be hard to surpass and that it is necessary to reinforce initiatives aimed at attracting resources at the international level.

A total of 102 agreements have been signed with private companies to carry out services or for sponsorship and 127 agreements have been signed for carrying out clinical trials for an overall sum of six million euros. Contracting of clinical trials in 2016 was similar to the previous year. Looking forward, we aim to diversify our portfolio in order to be more competitive and to seek out new niches of activity. To this end, we have launched the Clinical Trials in Nutrition Platform (specializing in cardiovascular, inflammatory processes and cognition), in order to carry out nutritional intervention studies (or studies using nutraceutics) sponsored by the food industry.

Internal and external communication has been strengthened. The network of Barcelona libraries in the neighborhoods in the catchment area of Hospital del Mar are being used to organize monthly scientific coffee mornings under the name “Un Mar de Ciència” (a sea of science), in which the scientific meetings held by PSMAR researchers are popularized. In October 2016, we organized the first coffee morning with the title “Depression and its warning signs” in the Fondo library in Santa Coloma de Gramenet. This was the first meeting of a program that has continued in 2017 with chats on other topics of interest.

A total of 2.529 news items were recorded in the media referring to IMIM in 2016 -  1577 (165%) more than in 2015, generated by the 44 press releases sent out (9 more than in 2015).  The spectacular increase in media presence was due to the major media response to the press conference on the new treatment for Down syndrome (377) and to the press releases “For how long should children play video games?” (250), “Pregnancy changes mothers’ brains” (217) and “New brain mechanism for nicotine addiction discovered” (153). In general, the media response to the other press releases issued was good.

In 2016, steps were taken to have the Barcelona Antidoping Laboratory attached to the Catalan Sports Council (CCE). We are awaiting the final approval of the budget of the Catalan government for 2017, which provides for funds earmarked for attaching the laboratory to the CCE. The economic activity of the Antidoping Laboratory this year was balanced and is therefore in an ideal situation for the FMIM.

The PSMAR Clinical Research Unit, located on the IMIM premises, was one of the first phase-1 clinical-trial units accredited with the new standard of the Catalan government and it began its expansion in 2017.

The IMIM strategic plan was developed in late 2016 and is in line with the PSMAR strategic plan for 2016-2020. The plan was approved in early 2017 by the board of governors and then submitted to the research community. It was an excellent opportunity for seeing where IMIM is positioned in the next five years and for defining actions that need to be carried out to achieve this positioning.

In parallel, during the last week of November 2016, we were visited by the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and the next day, CERCA carried out its evaluation, which has re-accredited IMIM with an overall B mark. During this evaluation, the research trajectory of IMIM was presented and a preliminary discussion was held of the strategic plan for 2016-2020. The CERCA evaluation noted a certain improvement in the past year, as well as the need to increase projection within Europe in relation to grants and projects and to improve recruitment of quality researchers in conditions of equality. Talent recruitment must be expanded internationally and it is important to take the SAB into account in all decisions regarding the recruitment of researchers in all areas. It was therefore decided to hold meetings with the SAB at least once a year. It was also agreed that, between late 2017 and early 2018, the SAB would evaluate the 5 IMIM research programs.

The CERCA evaluation also concluded that, although there had been an improvement in terms of technology transfer, this needs to be more actively implemented. The need to generate patents that can be transferred is of primary importance. The need to introduce genomic research in IMIM was discussed. Work has already begun on this requirement in 2017, with actions such as substantial changes in the scientific and technical platform toward a platform that can provide a response to the needs of the institution in terms of genomic studies. It was also agreed to seek new platforms for the rational use of resources and to evaluate the need to renew infrastructure.

The integration and shared use of existing resources in the PRBB must be a priority goal looking forward, together with increased interaction between the groups. Increased efforts must be made to improve retention and attraction of talent, and IMIM will work to insure that young researchers see our institution as an attractive place in which to do research.

In the area of clinical trials, clinical areas not relating to oncology will be expanded and phase-1 studies will be intensified (currently at the contracting and activation stage). In the area of philanthropy and given the current limitations of state funding, we are implementing alternative methods of financing via external funds.

One of the major opportunities open to IMIM is the interrelation with the hospital, which makes it easier to carry out translational research of excellence. This opportunity must be expanded and exploited as far as possible.

Finally, as part of our plans for the future, we will work to integrate all the researchers of the institute and avoid a purely local focus. The interaction and interrelation with all the PRBB research areas and also with the UPF and UAB universities will make the future projection of IMIM possible.

The current IMIM management would like to thank Rafael de la Torre for his work and his involvement over the year and a half for which he was director of the institution. Its efforts have made it possible to implement new initiatives and projects that have improved the position of IMIM in this period. The new management will continue to work to make IMIM a research center of excellence, well positioned internationally, and strategically aligned with the other PSMAR centers.