This group has continuously been financed throughout its entire history since its creation over 20 years ago owing to the more than 30 competitive projects leaded by members of the group acting as a principal investigator. These include 5 projects of the European Commission (2 in which one of our members had the role of quality coordinator), 1 of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and 15 of the Spanish National Research Plan (National Plan, the Spanish Interministerial Commission for Science and Technology [CICYT, Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología], the Healthcare Research Fund [FIS, Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria], and special actions). In addition, the group has coordinated 3 cooperative research and development projects in Ghana.
This research group is focused on two main aspects: teaching and researching. As part of a University Department, its main goal is to train professionals through the subjects taught in the three bachelor and two master’s degrees in which it participates, as well as future professors and researchers that seek training in research. In its research aspect, the group attempts to contribute to the generation of new knowledge about basic research, but with a highly translational vocation within the field of transmissible diseases and cooperating closely with several chemistry and clinical research groups of other national and international centers. The group has led the discovery of new pharmacological targets in the field of malaria and neuroprotection, as well as of an innovative methodology used for the large-scale cultivation of the human malaria parasite and its pharmacological screening. Other aspirations of this research group include generating transferable results, as proved by its registered patents.
The current specialization of the stable members comprising this group in molecular, cellular and preclinical methodologies not only provides solid and extensive technological consistency to address research needs in complex biomedical projects, but also endows it with necessary long-term stability, personal infrastructures and common laboratories used to carry out the coordinated joint research work. The group has been continuously funded since its establishment, in most cases due to obtaining grants or funding in national and international competitive calls. In addition, the group has trained a great number of predoctoral students, with a total of 25 theses directed by members of this group having been defended.
