CNIO, scientific leadership in oncology research
Source: www.immedicohospitalario.es
It is among the top 10 cancer research centres in the world and among the top two in Europe. Since its creation in 1998, the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) has generated a legacy of research excellence, always with the aim of offering high-level scientific work and innovative technology, as well as being able to transfer the results of its research to cancer patients.
At the CNIO, all aspects related to cancer are investigated and new fields of cancer research are sought together with therapeutic strategies and drugs against this pathology. Innovation has become one of its priorities, generating patents, collaborating with industry and creating spin-off companies, as well as offering services to other scientists and support in the diagnosis and prognosis of oncological diseases.
Likewise, leadership in patient-oriented research, scientific production, exploitation and transfer of research results, and attracting talent, are other of its main lines of action.
The Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas was created in 1998 by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with the mission of developing a comprehensive project of excellence in cancer research. It is currently attached to the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
Since 2003, the CNIO headquarters have been located on the Chamartín campus of the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid, when the building was inaugurated. It has 32,000m² of space and 10,000m² of laboratories dedicated to oncology research and a 3,000m² SPF animal facility. The Centre consists of two distinct parts: the former Victoria Eugenia hospital, which was refurbished, houses the basic research laboratories, library and offices, and another annex building houses all the applied research laboratories and the animal facility, one of the largest in Europe, equipped with robotic washing systems to guarantee homogeneous and standardised treatment of the processes.
Its management is coordinated by the Carlos III National Cancer Research Centre Foundation, which was created at the same time as the centre itself. This Foundation is the owner of the rights, obligations and assets of the CNIO, and its purpose is to promote cancer research through the Centre, which carries out the scientific activity. Thus, its management system combines business flexibility with the accounting rigour inherent to the state ownership of the Foundation and the system of control and justification of the public funds received.
Moreover, it should be noted that the CNIO is one of the six Spanish research centres that have received governmental accreditation as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence continuously since the creation of this programme in 2011, which was renewed in 2020 for four more years.
Areas of work
The CNIO currently hosts 26 Research Groups-Clinical Research Units, 17 Section Units, distributed in six Research Programmes, divided into three areas: basic research; patient-oriented research; and innovation.
These areas cover multiple aspects and approaches related to cancer research, from the study of the basic molecular mechanisms involved in cellular malignancy to the development of therapeutic and diagnostic strategies useful for patients.
The Basic Research area includes the Molecular Oncology Programme and the Structural Biology Programme. The Patient-Oriented Research area contains the Human Cancer Genetics Programme and the Clinical Research Programme. The Innovation area includes the Biotechnology Programme, the Experimental Therapies Programme, and the Technology Transfer Office.
The Basic Research and Patient-Oriented Research Programmes are in charge of scientific progress in cancer research, with the latter also responsible for the application of this knowledge to the clinical development of new therapeutic strategies.
The Innovation area integrates all the Innovation activities of the CNIO Scientific Programmes through the Technology Transfer Office, as well as the Support Units of the Biotechnology Programme, which provide state-of-the-art services and technologies, and the Experimental Therapeutics Programme, which has all the capabilities to address the early stages of the drug discovery and development process.
There is also a Biobank, registered in the National Biobank Register of the Carlos III Health Institute, whose mission is to obtain, process, store and share biological samples of human origin for research excellence in cancer and related processes, in line with the highest technical, ethical and quality standards, as well as providing support to all areas.
Promoting the participation and coordination of European and international consortiums and networks by the centre’s researchers, establishing alliances with other institutions of international prestige and strengthening the incorporation of talent from outside Spain (8% of the staff is foreign, and 12% in the case of trainees), is part of the CNIO’s current strategy, which also aspires to achieve the HR Excellence in Research Award accreditation issued by the European Commission to recognise institutions that make progress in aligning their human resources policies.
No gender barriers
Another of the characteristics of the CNIO’s staff, made up of more than 500 researchers, is that it is mainly made up of women, 68% of the total number of scientists.
To fight against gender stereotypes and promote awareness of the need for actions aimed at achieving and ensuring gender equality in science, the Centre has had a CNIO Women and Science Office (WISE Office) since 2012, whose objectives include helping to correct any imbalances that may exist in its staff, as well as supporting women researchers in achieving their goals.
This work was reinforced from 2019 with the establishment of an Equality Plan that compiles a set of measures and actions that ensure the principle of equality between women and men at the Centre.
Its aim, in addition to avoiding any kind of discrimination in the workplace, is to guarantee and promote real and effective equal opportunities among its employees. The CNIO Director also refers to this Plan in her interview with ‘IM Médico’.
