Research lines

The group is working in the field of the respiratory infections and tuberculosis, improving the understanding of the host-pathogen-external factors interaction, and exploring new approaches both for diagnosis and treatment.

Scientific challenges and strategic objectives for the next 3 years are described below for each research line.

Active projects

Past projects

Additional information

Collaborative networks

• CIBER Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES) Group 17 (CB06/0031), from 2007.
• Tuberculosis Network European Trials group (TBnet), from 2012.
• Unidad Asistencial de Excelencia en Tuberculosis, accredited by the Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR), from 2015.
• Spanish network MYCONET, accredited by Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad, from 2017.
• Study Group for Staphylococci and Staphylococcal Diseases. European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, from 2018.
• COMBACTE CLIN-Net. COMBACTE's clinical hospital network was built within COMBACTE-NET, COMBACTE-CARE and COMBACTE-MAGNET, all IMI-funded projects within the New Drugs for Bad Bugs program, dedicated to combat antimicrobial resistance through collaborative research since 2013. In October 2023, COMBACTE will conclude its ten-year mandate: building a sustainable clinical research network. Since 1 June 2022, CLIN-Net was sustained in the European Clinical Research Alliance on Infectious Diseases - ECRAID. That means that the network built over the last decade will continue as part of the not-for-profit ECRAID network.

Doctoral theses

Others

Additional noteworthy activities of the research group that are worth mentioning relate to dissemination, social impact, research transference, and excellence indicators.

Regarding dissemination, it is important to note that all the activities of the research group are posted on IGTP’s website, and the X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts of the group (@Oneandahalf_Lab; @innova4tb). The social network accounts allow for a dissemination of their research results and scientific activities to society in a fast and accessible way.

Actions that will have social impact are a priority for the research group. As previously explained, the team leads INNOVA4TB, an H2020 RISE consortium, where three partners are from Ukraine and one from Moldova. They have also applied to a COST application (ADVANCE-TB consortium) where partners from Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, North Macedonia, Romania, and even Nigeria are involved. One of the main objectives of these consortiums is to favour the exchanges of staff between institutions, in order to improve their professional careers. This action has a clear social impact, as it improves the quality of the research in all the country partners, enhances TB control, and assists young scientists and physicians in their career development, especially in Eastern countries and particularly in these threatening times.

The team exhibits a pro-active tech transfer behaviour. The group holds three patents in national phases. Two of them are licensed, and the third is in negotiations with an IVD Company. In all cases, the group has been invited to participate in the co-development of the final product. In one case, a member of the group was employed for a full year in the R+D department of the company, and will now be hired to be in charge of the final steps of the market release.

Finally, as an indicator of excellent research, it is noteworthy that the papers published by the group have reached more than 1000 citations.

Public engagement in research and innovation. The group is establishing participatory multi-actor dialogues between researchers, policy makers, industry, and civil society organizations, NGOs, and citizens to define the scientific research priorities.

In 2021, the group organised, with the collaboration of TB-REP 2.0, a symposium for discussing the role of civil society in TB diagnostics and management. TB-REP 2.0 is a multi-country program covering 11 countries in the Eastern Europe region. Representatives of more than 25 small and medium NGOs from Eastern Europe and Euro-Asia countries participated in the event. During the symposium, the need for non-invasive methods that provide rapid results was emphasized as key to reducing the burden of the disease, reducing the stigma that patients suffer, and increasing the well-being of the citizens and the society.

The group also participated in 2021 in an international online course about “Community Engagement in TB Research & Development: Looking for Innovations”, oriented to civil society that was also organized in collaboration with TB-REP 2.0. The group discussed with representatives of the civil society about the preventive therapy of tuberculosis, and the needs of diagnostics and vaccines. These actions contribute to building a more scientifically literate society able to actively participate in and support democratic processes, and science and technology developments. The group plans to continue in contact with the NGOs for involving them in the research strategies of the group. It is also planned to continue with outreach activities. Continuous information will be released from the group through social networks (X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook), and conventional media (Newspaper, radio, and TV).

Enabling easier access to scientific results. The group prioritises the publication of results in open access formats, improving the dissemination of their research. Additionally, the group has established a Research Data Management Plan (DMP). They commit to follow guidelines outlined by the EC, Science Europe, and national requirements. Handling of research data and the objects on which the data is based is carefully planned, documented, and described, which will allow the integrity and reproducibility of scientific results. The Data Management follows the FAIR data principles. The group supports the development and consolidation of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) as a web of FAIR data. Data generated is available under the CC BY or CC 0 license. Following current legislation [Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of Parliament European Council and of the Council of April 27, 2016 on Data Protection (RGPD)], all clinical data is treated confidentially. The access to the data is granted only for research purposes. The data is stored in a REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) database, deposited in IGTP servers. REDCap is a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases.

Take up of gender in R&D content and process. The research group has created an environment that promotes responsible conduct and fosters integrity by individual researchers. Gender policies are established and will continuously monitor structures, processes, and procedures, which would: a) Give equal skills to both men and women; b) Encourage respect for everyone, especially women, involved in the research environment; c) Promote productive interactions between all research staff irrespective of gender.

The constitution of the group is almost 50% men (9) and women (11). The gender balance in decision-making is assured, all leaders of the Experimental Research Teams are women; and 8 of the 12 researchers of the Clinical Research Team are also women. The gender issue is also considered in the research design and methodologies. Tuberculosis is affecting a large amount of the population, and the incidence in women is increasing, probably associated with other risk factors. Therefore, the group will make all efforts to address this issue.

However, the group will go one step further. It is going to constitute, in the framework of the INNOVA4TB consortium, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) that will take care of gender balance, but also will work towards the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of marital status, pregnancy, breastfeeding, disability, family status, and race.

Take up of ethics in R&D content and process. Ethics is an integral part of research from the beginning to the end. Ethical research conduct implies the application of fundamental ethical principles and legislation to scientific research. The group will look after the avoidance of any breach of research integrity, which means, in particular, avoiding fabrication, falsification, plagiarism or other research misconduct.

The group has the ethics approval from the different Ethics Committee institutions participating in all their studies. The group complies with the local statutes and adheres to local ethical guidelines. The projects comply with the WMA Declaration of Helsinki (Fortaleza, 2013); the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Oviedo, 4 April 1997) (Oviedo Bioethics Convention); the EU Directive 2005/28/EC of 8 April 2005 laying down principles and detailed guidelines for good clinical practice as regards investigational medicinal products for human use as well as the requirements for authorization of the manufacturing or importation of such products (OJ L 91, 9.4.2005, p. 13), the EU Regulation No 536/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on clinical trials on medicinal products for human use, repealing Directive 2001/20/EC (OJ L 158, 27.5.2014). The group will also follow the recommendations of the European Textbook on Ethics in Research from the European Commission - EUR 24452 EN - 2010.

Formal and informal science education. Building capacities and developing innovative ways of connecting science to society is one of the priorities. This will help to make science more attractive to young people, increase society's appetite for innovation, and open up further research and innovation activities. In this sense, the group has planned the following actions: 1) Press releases to newspapers and feature articles in magazines. 2) Presentation of results and training actions in local TV and radio. 3) Release updated group information on the official webpage and social networks. 4) Specific actions in press, and open conferences on World TB Day (24 March). 5) High school conferences. 6) Participation in the "Open Researcher's Night" and "Science Open Day".

In 2021, the group participated in the project titled "European Performing Science Night (EPSN)" led by la Fundació Èpica La Fura dels Baus, granted by the H2020 program (H2020-MSCA-NIGHT-2020bis). This initiative aimed to bring researchers closer to the public and enhance their recognition, work, and the value they bring to society. To achieve these goals, the project incorporated various activities that blend science, art, and technology. Initially, EPSN organised a workshop for participating researchers, focusing on co-creation methodologies to foster synergies between different groups and disciplines, and to facilitate communication with the audience. Following this, a co-creation workshop specifically designed for scientists, technologists, and artists was held from 13 to 25 September. This workshop culminated in a public performance that interpreted the challenges and research topics discussed by the experts during the initial workshop. The outcomes of this workshop were then presented in a public session that featured exhibitions, interactive experiences, and talks, all aimed at promoting the values of science and demonstrating the impact and attractiveness of researchers' work to motivate young people to pursue research careers.