Conference: ‘Health Research in the Basque Country’
The Basque Country strengthens its leadership in health research and highlights the importance of networking to transform healthcare.
Around 200 people, including institutional representatives, researchers, healthcare professionals and patients, gathered at the BAT Tower in Bilbao for the conference ‘Health Research in the Basque Country: Consensus, Networking, Patients’, an event organised by the Basque Government’s Department of Health and Osakidetza to analyse the progress of the Basque health R&D&I ecosystem and address its future challenges.
Biosistemak played an active role in this forum through its scientific director, Ane Fullaondo, reaffirming the Institute’s commitment to collaborative, people-centred research focused on improving healthcare systems.
During the event, the 2025 Report on R&D&I Activity in Health was presented, confirming the sustained growth of health research in the Basque Country. The report details 725 competitive projects, 59 of which are international, as well as the securing of 32 million euros in competitive funding, including 19.6 million from international calls for proposals.
The strategic role of research
The event was attended by the Basque Government’s Minister for Health, Alberto Martínez, and the Director-General of Osakidetza, Lore Bilbao, who highlighted the strategic role of research in addressing the current and future challenges facing the healthcare system.
In his speech, Alberto Martínez noted that “the best investment in health does not begin in a hospital; it begins with research”, emphasising that patients are the true driving force behind research activity and that the generation of knowledge is key to providing better diagnoses, more effective treatments and higher-quality healthcare.
For her part, Lore Bilbao highlighted Osakidetza’s research capacity and the importance of strengthening collaboration with health research institutes to translate scientific evidence into clinical practice and make a real impact on the public.
Biosistemak: key to the transformation of the healthcare system
At the round-table discussion dedicated to the Basque Country’s health research institutes, Ane Fullaondo shared Biosistemak’s vision of the role of research in the transformation of health services, focusing on collaborative work between professionals, healthcare organisations, public policy-makers and patients.
Among the projects presented, she highlighted JAMRAI 2, an initiative in which Biosistemak is participating and which tackles antimicrobial resist nos from a ‘One Health’ perspective, integrating human, animal and environmental health to address one of the main global public health challenges.
More research and more opportunities for patients
The data presented also reflect the growth of clinical research in the Basque Country. In 2025, 440 new patients took part in clinical trials involving medicines, bringing the total number of people enrolled in these studies since 2022 to 2,455.
Scientific activity also continued to develop positively, reaching 1,938 citable scientific publications, 7 per cent more than the previous year. The main areas of research were oncology, neurology, mental health, infectious diseases, genetics, geriatrics, cardiovascular diseases and endocrinology, in line with the major health challenges facing society.
