IIS La Fe strengthened its scientific leadership in 2025 with increased research, clinical and innovation activity

The institutional opening session featured the participation of María José Carrión, Managing Director of IIS La Fe; Pilar Nos, Scientific Director of the institute; and José Luis Poveda, General Director of La Fe Hospital.

In this context, IIS La Fe has presented a clear overview of its evolution over the past year: more science, more clinical research, and more innovation. In 2025, the institute reached a total of 1,212 scientific publications, consolidating the quality of its output with 1,066 articles published in Q1 journals and 685 in D1 journals, the highest impact tiers within indexed scientific publications. These indicators reinforce the scientific positioning of IIS La Fe and its capacity to compete at the highest levels of research excellence.

Clinical research, competitive funding and innovation

Clinical research once again stood as one of the main drivers of the institute. Clinical trials not only maintained a central role in IIS La Fe's activity, but also consolidated their position as one of its main growth engines, generating €16.149 million in revenue in 2025, accounting for nearly 40% of the total annual income. The institute's scientific report highlights that these indicators reflect research not only as academic output, but also as a driver of clinical practice, innovation, and knowledge transfer.

Alongside this boost in clinical research, the institute also demonstrated strong performance in competitive research funding. In 2025, IIS La Fe secured funding for 69 new research projects, of which 54 were publicly funded and 15 were supported by private sources. These figures reinforce the institute's ability to compete successfully across different funding environments and to maintain a broad, stable and diversified research portfolio.

Innovation was another key pillar of the year. The 2025 report includes 36 active patents, 36 patent families, 3 new patent applications, and a total innovation funding of €3.454 million. In addition, 10 competitive innovation projects were awarded, with external funding of €3,282,350.83, reinforcing the institute's capacity to protect, valorise and transfer results to the healthcare system and the industrial sector.

These scientific and innovation advances are supported by an increasingly solid organisational structure. In 2025, the institute allocated €21.451 million to personnel costs and reached 58% permanent contracts, reflecting greater stability across scientific, technical and management teams and strengthening the institute's ability to sustain long-term research lines.

In this regard, Pilar Nos, Scientific Director of IIS La Fe, stated that "it is not only about producing more science, but about producing rigorous, useful and competitive science capable of improving people's lives."

Growth and structure

These scientific and innovation achievements are also supported by a strengthening organisational framework. In 2025, IIS La Fe recorded €42.825 million in total revenue, up from €35.035 million in 2024 and €31.662 million in 2023, reflecting a sustained growth trajectory. Within this budget, public funding accounted for €18.315 million, representing 43% of total income.

National funding was the most significant source, with €12.103 million, followed by regional funding (€4.386 million) and international funding (€1.826 million). Overall, these figures illustrate a diversified funding model based on competitive calls, clinical trials, agreements, European funds, and scientific-technical services.

"The scientific excellence of an institute is not built only in the laboratory. Behind every project, every clinical trial and every innovation lies a structure that supports, anticipates and transforms resources into real capacity to generate knowledge, impact and value for the healthcare system," stated María José Carrión, Managing Director of IIS La Fe.

Scientific session and closing ceremony

The event also included a scientific session led by Miguel Servet postdoctoral researchers, featuring Estela Climent (Joint Research Unit in Nanomedicine and Sensors) and Víctor García Bustos (Severe Infection Group). The keynote lecture was delivered by Damià Tormo, CEO of Columbus Venture Partners, trustee of the IIS La Fe Foundation and recipient of the 2025 Jaume I Award for Business Revelation.

During the event, awards were also presented for the V PhD Day and for Innovative Ideas in Cancer research.

The award for best oral communication was granted to Nadaya Corpas, from the Fetal and Reproductive Medicine research group, for her work "Ovarian extracellular matrix hydrogels as biomimetic materials for fertility restoration".

The researcher from the Joint Research Unit in Experimental Hepatology, Estela Sánchez, received the award for best poster for the work "Enhanced iPSC-derived hepatocyte differentiation via solid-phase growth factor presentation from collagen hydrogels".

Finally, nurse David Sánchez received the Best Nursing Research Award for the oral communication "Effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions for dyspnoea in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis", an award sponsored by the Nursing Directorate of Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe.

In the II Innovative Ideas Competition, organised in collaboration with the Spanish Association Against Cancer Scientific Foundation, the award was granted to José Joaquín Martínez Rodrigo for the proposal "PIN-LCR cranio-cervical approach in midline tumours".

The institutional closing session was led by Mariola Penadés, Director General for Research and Innovation of the Regional Ministry of Health, together with Pilar Nos and José Luis Poveda, in an event that showcased the scientific, clinical, economic and innovative evolution of the institute and its contribution to the public R&D&I system in health.