Appendix - CNIC

Dear friends,
SCIENTIFIC
The last year has been a crucial and exciting period in the growth of the
CNIC. Almost 100 new staff joined the Center in 2009, bringing the total
personnel from 227 to 319. This growth included the establishment of
leading research groups in the departments of Epidemiology (José María
Ordovás), Developmental Biology (José Luis de la Pompa and Ignacio Flores),
Regenerative Cardiology (José Antonio Enríquez) and Atherothrombosis &
Imaging (Vicente Andrés, Borja Ibañez and Luis Jesús Jiménez-Borreguero).
In addition to these senior groups, three talented young researchers joined
the Center as junior group leaders: Enrique Lara-Pezzi (Developmental
Biology), David Sancho Madrid (Vascular Biology and Inflammation) and
Beatriz González Gálvez (Regenerative Cardiology).
Last year also saw rapid growth in the CNIC’s scientific production, with a
significant increase in the volume and quality of published articles, including
several in the leading journals in basic and clinical cardiovascular research.
It gives us great pleasure to witness this rapid growth in the CNIC’s scientific
muscle, which has generated a tangible sense of dynamism that bodes very
well for the future.
Our goal for the CNIC is for it to establish itself as an international reference
center for cardiovascular research and translational medicine. Such high
ambition requires financial stability in the long term, and the solid support
of the ProCNIC Foundation is an essential ingredient in this. On June 29 last
year, the agreement with the ProCNIC Foundation was extended until 2020,
ensuring that despite the current delicate financial climate, the CNIC
continues to march forward with confidence.
The CNIC’s translational research program moved into a new phase in 2009
with the financing of the FOCUS project by the European Commission. This
study, led by the CNIC, aims to test the fixed-dose-combination (polypill)
concept for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in populations with
diverse socio-economic characteristics. FOCUS will test a fixed-dosecombination
pill, jointly developed by the CNIC and Grupo Ferrer, in a
clinical trial involving two countries in Europe—Spain and Italy—and three
in South America—Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Apart from the CNIC and
Ferrer, the study includes eight other partners in centers throughout the
world.