FUNDACION PARA LA INVESTIGACION BIOMEDICA DEL HOSPITAL UNIVERSITARIO CLINICO SAN CARLOS

Their core work

FIB HCSC is the research foundation of Hospital Clínico San Carlos, a major university hospital in Madrid. They provide clinical infrastructure, patient cohorts, and translational research expertise to large European biomedical consortia. Their work spans cardiovascular prevention, immunology, autoimmune disease mechanisms, and clinical trial infrastructure for paediatric and tuberculosis drug development. As a hospital-embedded foundation, they bridge laboratory science and bedside practice, contributing real-world patient data and clinical validation capacity.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2017), FIB HCSC focused on cardiovascular clinical trials (polypill, medication adherence in elderly patients) and fundamental immunology (tribbles, Tregs, macrophages). From 2018 onward, their work shifted decisively toward complex autoimmune disease mechanisms, digital health endpoints for neurodegenerative and inflammatory conditions, and infectious disease drug development (tuberculosis). This trajectory shows a hospital research unit moving from traditional clinical trials toward data-rich, multi-omics approaches and digital patient monitoring.

Moving toward precision medicine approaches — integrating single-cell data, predictive modeling, and digital endpoints into clinical research, making them increasingly relevant for data-driven translational medicine collaborations.

How they like to work

FIB HCSC operates almost exclusively as a third-party contributor (6 of 7 projects), providing clinical sites, patient cohorts, or specialist expertise to large consortia rather than leading or co-designing projects. Their consortia are typically very large (232 unique partners across 26 countries), which is consistent with their role as a clinical node in pan-European networks. This makes them a reliable, low-friction partner for consortia needing a Spanish hospital site, though they are not typically involved in project design or coordination.

Connected to 232 unique partners across 26 countries, reflecting their role as a clinical site within major European health consortia. Their network is broad but largely inherited from the large projects they contribute to, rather than built through direct bilateral partnerships.

What sets them apart

Their distinctive value lies in being a research foundation embedded within a large Madrid university hospital, giving them direct access to diverse patient populations and clinical infrastructure for trials. Unlike standalone research institutes, they can offer real-world clinical validation — from patient recruitment to bedside data collection — across multiple therapeutic areas simultaneously. For consortium builders, they represent a proven Spanish clinical partner with experience across cardiovascular, autoimmune, paediatric, and infectious disease domains.

Highlights from their portfolio

• 3TR
  Major IMI-scale project investigating molecular mechanisms of treatment non-response across autoimmune diseases using single-cell and integrative genomics — represents their most advanced precision medicine involvement.
• c4c
  One of Europe's largest paediatric clinical trial networks (running until 2025), positioning FIB HCSC within critical infrastructure for children's medicine development.
• IDEA-FAST
  Pioneering digital endpoint identification for fatigue and sleep in neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases — signals their move into digital health measurement.