National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII)

• Mission: To contribute to improving the health of all citizens and to fight disease through the promotion of research and innovation in health sciences and biomedicine by providing ground-breaking scientific and technical services and educational programmes to support the National Health System.
• Vision: In close coordination with other public authorities, to become the leading Spanish player on the world stage for public health and biomedical research.
• Values: social commitment, scientific integrity, public responsibility and teamwork and alliances.

• Biomedical Research Funder & National Agency for Biomedical Research
• Scientific and technical public health services
• Specialized Health Training in Public Health and Occupational Medicine

The ISCIII has its headquarters on Campus Chamartín in Madrid and is responsible for Spain’s main public health laboratories. Its centres of excellence include:

The National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) is a leading international research center dedicated to understanding the basis of cardiovascular health and disease and to translating this knowledge into improved patient care.

The CIEN Foundation was established to support, promote and coordinate research in all fields of basic, clinical and epidemiological neurology, with special emphasis on problems related to neurodegenerative diseases.

The goal of the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) is to develop new and more effective approaches to preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer.

ISCIII Biomedical Research Institutes (BRI)

The ISCIII Biomedical Research Institutes (BRI) are research entities organised around hospitals and primary care centres within the Spanish National Health System (SNS), with the participation of universities, public and private research centres and companies. In these Research Institutes, multidisciplinary teams made up of researchers from various fields (clinical, academic, innovative, business) work together to develop knowledge that can be applied quickly to improve the health of the Spanish population.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak in February 2020, ISCIII launched two specific funding calls for epidemic research.

In the first call, 127 projects were funded for a total value of almost €30M.

A second call was launched in March 2021, and a total of 38 projects were funded on the following themes:

Looking at these two graphs, we can observe a change in priorities within the scientific community in Spain, with patient follow-up and care emerging as a priority.

Visibility in the global landscape and the internationalization of the Spanish Research & Innovation System are priorities for ISCIII. To achieve these objectives, it:

• participates in the definition and development of European and international research programmes
• contributes to the European Research Area
• maintains national and institutional representation in international research consortia as well as in European Research Infrastructures

ERA-NET co-funding

• HDHL Intimic
• Transcan III
• JPIAMR Action
• Neuron Cofund
• EU-CELAC Platform

Joint Programming Initiatives

• EJP-RD: European Joint Programme on Rare Diseases
• JPND 2
• HBM4EU: Human Biomonitoring to provide evidence for chemical Policy making
• JPIAMR
• JPIHDL: A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life

Institutional Partnerships

• EU Africa for Global Health /EDCTPII
• AAL 2: Ageing Well in the Digital World

The ISCIII is a member of the Ibero-American Health Ministries Network for Research for Health (RIMAIS) and devotes a great deal of time and resources to building and maintaining relations with partners in Latin America. RIMAIS is made up of 18 Ibero-American country members and aims to improve the coordination of health research and the implementation of health interventions.