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Letter from the Scientific Director
Prof . Pablo Laguna Scientific director . CIBER-BBN .
CIBER-BBN IN 2014
When reviewing the main actions carried out and results achieved in year 2014 in CIBER-BBN, it is again very exciting to see how we have successfully maintained a clearly positive evolution . The milestones which I consider deserve being mentioned explicitly in this report are described below .
With respect to the annual evaluation of the groups in the centre based on data from 2013, we can again say that we are continuing in the line of continuous improvement, tending towards saturating our indicators in most groups, and this therefore translates into an overall improvement in CIBER-BBN . As a result of this evaluation and the evaluation carried out in the previous years, 2 groups left CIBER-BBN as of December 31, and at the time of writing this report the possibility of incorporating new groups into the different CIBER is open in the Strategic Health Action call for proposal .
As regards our day-to-day activity, the actions contemplated in the strategic plan approved in December 2013, including continuous actions, other reoriented actions and some completely new actions, were started this year .
It is worth pointing out that an international FORUM aimed at defining the proposals for H2020 in the field of “Brain Health & Neurorestoration” was held in Barcelona in September . The Forum was orga- nized by CIBER-BBN, the consortium institutions Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona and clinical partner Instituto Guttmann .
When reviewing the initiatives derived from these FORUMS that seek to open up paths towards clinical practice, the seminal and biannual projects that we started along with CIBERES and SEPAR will end early 2015 . Given that all parties consider that the call for proposal has been a success within the modesty of its financial ambitions and seminal purposes, a decision was made to reissue said call for proposal in this year 2014, the new projects already under way . Similarly, another call for proposal has been made during 2014 together with Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Córdoba, IMIBIC, and this resulted in a collaboration project currently under development between the two institutions . In addition, 6 projects in collaboration with the Fundación ECO (Excellence in Oncology) are in the development phase .
Adding to this line of collaboration between CIBERs and at the initiative of the ISCIII, a new instrument consisting of funding multidisciplinary projects involving 4 different CIBERs has been designed . The first edition of this call for proposal took place in 2014 with the funding of 3 projects being proposed, inclu- ding one of the proposals that involves CIBER-BBN participation as a coordinator . CIBER-BBN participates in this project along with our colleagues from CIBERDEM, CIBERNED and CIBERER . .
In aspects relating to training, mobility and research initiation programmes continued to be developed as usual and they are greatly appreciated and highly valued by the entire CIBER-BBN community . The year 2014 saw the grant of 39 “launching” grants for young researchers and 19 mobility grants .
With respect to the platform programme, the request submitted in the year 2013 for recognizing our platform programme as a Singular Scientific Infrastructure (ICTS), along with Centro de Cirugía de Míni- ma Invasión Jesús Usón de Cáceres (CCMIJU), has been resolved positively . This recognition is very good
4 CIBER-BBN » Annual report 2014