CIC biomaGUNE celebrates 20 years at the forefront of biomaterials research
The internationally renowned Basque research centre marks its 20th anniversary today, joined by the Basque Government’s Director of Innovation, the President of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and the Mayor of Donostia
Representatives from CIC biomaGUNE highlight the centre’s ability to attract international talent and translate cutting-edge knowledge into solutions to today’s health challenges
CIC biomaGUNE is celebrating its anniversary in the presence of the Mayor of Donostia, Jon Insausti; the President of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, Eider Mendoza; the Basque Government’s Director of Innovation, Maialen Agirre Pinedo; and Ikerbasque Scientific Director Fernando Cossío. The event has provided an opportunity to celebrate together the pride felt in CIC biomaGUNE’s consolidation as a leading centre in its field, while also encouraging reflection on the challenges that lie ahead, both for the research centre itself and for science more broadly.
At the opening ceremony, Dr José M Mato, Director General of CIC biomaGUNE, said: “Over the past two decades, CIC biomaGUNE has become an internationally recognised centre of scientific excellence, attracting outstanding researchers, making significant scientific contributions, developing exceptional research infrastructure and establishing itself as a leading centre in biomaterials, nanotechnology and molecular imaging.”
Over the past 20 years, the centre’s scientific community has published more than 2,000 research papers in high-impact journals. A total of 125 doctoral theses have been completed, with a further 87 currently under way. CIC biomaGUNE has also filed 40 patent applications and has been involved in the creation of five spin-off companies: MD-Renal, Asparia Glycomics, Hylezitek, Taldeki and Onkoreplica. The centre works on an average of 160 projects each year, including 13 prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grants.
“But perhaps,” Mato added, “our greatest achievement cannot simply be measured in publications, citations, patents or scientific recognition. Our greatest achievement lies in having built an institution with an identity of its own, a culture of scientific excellence, intellectual freedom and collaboration and, above all, an institution capable of attracting and training new generations of scientists.”
Dr Aitziber L. Cortajarena, Scientific Director of CIC biomaGUNE, emphasised that all these achievements are underpinned by the work of the people who have passed through CIC biomaGUNE over the years and those currently working at the centre: “It is talent from all over the world working side by side to generate cutting-edge knowledge in the field of biomaterials and translate it into solutions to today’s health challenges.”
Expansion
Cortajarena highlighted “each of the stages the research centre has gone through, from its beginnings through to its consolidation, growth and internationalisation, as well as the outstanding scientific infrastructure available at CIC biomaGUNE”. Having established itself as an international centre of excellence in fundamental research, the centre has taken a further step in order to “build on this excellent science and ensure that, through knowledge translation, it has an impact on society, with the ambition of bringing our research into the clinic and providing therapeutic and diagnostic solutions to major health challenges, including through the creation of new companies”.
The Ikerbasque Professor also outlined the centre’s scientific strategy, “with increasingly interdisciplinary and comprehensive programmes structured around biofunctional nanomaterials, synthetic bioengineering, and molecular and functional imaging”. Indeed, the Donostia-based research centre has launched an expansion plan “with new laboratories and equipment, as well as new capabilities in computing, artificial intelligence and automation, which will enable us to accelerate discovery and its translation”.
