Scientific Report 2011

Abstract

The history of our young center has been dominated by our effort to install infrastructure and consolidate the base for our future development. In recent years we have seen the fruits of this effort in our ever stronger publication record, the organization of important clinical studies and the recruitment of top flight researchers. A key to our success is the social commitment from the private sector through the ProCNIC Foundation. The additional support for the Center from this public-private partnership liberates our ambition to aim for excellence, and provides us with invaluable business and organizational expertise. Looking at the achievements of 2011, no one could doubt that the CNIC now ranks as one of the leading biomedical research centers on the world stage. In a year filled with important landmarks for the CNIC, the crowning achievement was undoubtedly receiving the Premio Severo Ochoa in November. The Severo Ochoa Centers of Excellence Program is a new government initiative that celebrates and rewards world-class excellence in Spanish research. The CNIC is one of eight garlanded centers, including Life and non Life Sciences centers, chosen from a cohort of seventy-five applicants in a highly competitive selection procedure. Twenty-two shortlisted candidates were assessed by panels of international experts led by nobel laureates in their respective fields. The Life Sciences and Medicine panel, chaired by Robert Huber of the Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie, selected the CNIC among just three research institutes in this area. [...]