Àngel Font, Executive Director of the CaixaResearch Institute, has highlighted the Mediterranean's potential as a crucial area for studying the interconnection between climate change and human health. According to Font, the region, being one of Europe's warmest, serves as a "great experimentation bank" to understand how people's health depends on the planet's condition.
This reflection occurred during a conference presenting the work of the CaixaResearch Institute, a pioneering center in Spain and Portugal exclusively specializing in immunology. It currently employs 30 staff and plans to expand to 500, organized into 35 research groups.
Immunology was chosen as the primary field of study because it acts as a "common language" in numerous diseases, from cancer to neurological conditions. The institute aims to delve deeper into this area to enhance the human body's self-defense and healing capabilities.
Àngel Font, also Deputy Director General of Research and Grants at the "la Caixa" Foundation, emphasized the need for stability and competitiveness in science. The center has a 10-year plan and aims to multiply resources sought from the European Commission and other foundations, with the goal of each invested euro generating double or triple for its management.
A key priority for the CaixaResearch Institute is the transfer of knowledge to patients, achieved through collaboration with industry to expedite the availability of new therapies. The institute also seeks a global role, acknowledging its location in Barcelona, a transit point for people and, consequently, pathogens.
“"Today, health cannot be understood without global health, connected to the health of the planet."
