Page 5 - MemoriaSAM-Eng

www.cibersam.es

psychosomatic, anxiety and impulse control disorders) have pre-clinical research

groups which are one of the greatest assets of this CIBER. Transversal structure
operation such as research platforms was reinforced in 2013. The number of genetic

samples in our DNA platform, which already totals 10,000 samples, is becoming

more and more attractive for international consortiums and allows conducting na-
tional studies which would otherwise be impossible. We worked very hard on the

application joining the DNA platform with the common database. At present, any
investigator of this CIBER can know about the availability of samples with specific

characteristics (diagnosis, age at onset of the disorder, gender, race, existence in

the family platform, etc.) and the groups to contact to be able to use this platform
in the most efficient manner. The instrument bank platform continues to provide ex-

cellent service to clinical investigators inside and outside this CIBER. Improvement

to the GRIDSAM tool which allows entering data in multicentre projects continues
and currently includes data from more than 22,000 individuals with different psy-

chiatric disorders and healthy controls.

We continue to be committed to Europe, especially considering the delicate eco-
nomic situation of our country. There was a total of 20 active European and interna-

tional projects in 2013 and three newly granted projects will start in 2014. In total,

56% of the groups forming CIBERSAM participated in these projects. The first NIH
project managed by CIBERSAM was also achieved this year. We are sure that a re-

turn can be further improved through participation and coordination by our groups

in projects funded by the European Union. The participation of more than half the
CIBERSAM groups in European projects and our Centre’s coordination in strategic

projects within the European Union attest to this. In 2013, 43.8% (198) of the total
CIBERSAM publications resulted from international collaborations. We continue to

coordinate the European research roadmap through the ROAMER project, which

should establish the priority lines of funding in mental health within Horizon 2020.

In 2013, we continued to foster and enhance our relations with the family and
patient associations by holding the 5th Social CIBER-SAM Forum, which brought

together the main family and patient associations and CIBERSAM investigators in

Seville. CIBERSAM was present in the mass media throughout 2013. We partici-
pated in Science Week and endorsed an increasing number of scientific activities.

We continued to work constantly to have a more dynamic and intuitive web page
that makes accessing the priority contents on said page easier. We also launched

our twitter account, @CIBER_SAM, which already has 300 followers, and our own

Facebook page.

One of the key objectives of this CIBER since its incorporation was to train young
investigators in the pleasing and stimulating task of mental health research. In

2013, we started the Master’s course in Introduction to Mental Health Research with

the participation of five of the best universities in the country. Dozens of students 13
registered for this first course and they are currently in their first year of study. The 0
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responses that we obtained from these students could not be more positive.
RT
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For a publicly funded institute, conducting quality research alone is not enough. E
There is a need to conduct research for the purpose of returning to society what R
AL
has been invested in research. In CIBERSAM, our objective is to translate our re- U
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search into original knowledge that produces improvements in clinical practice and A
therefore in mental health in Spain. We will be on the right track if our activity also /
M
results in patents and intellectual property that may generate a long-term economic SA
ER
return on the expenses generated by research. In 2013, CIBERSAM filed six new B
patents, five of which are international patents, and produced 15 new clinical guide- CI

lines, all of which demonstrate that we are on the right track.
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