Fundació Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV)

The IISPV is an umbrella organization that coordinates all the biomedical research activities in the province of Tarragona in Southern Catalonia (Spain). The Institute was founded in 2005 as a collaborative effort among hospitals (Joan XXIII University Hospital in Tarragona, Sant Joan University Hospital in Reus, Pere Mata Psychiatric University Hospital in Reus, Verge de la Cinta Hospital in Tortosa), primary care centers and Rovira i Virgili University. The IISPV is one of the research centers of the CERCA network of excellence (https://cerca.cat/) and a member of the Campus of International Excellence Southern Catalonia (http://www.ceics.eu/), which has reinforced the links with other knowledge-generating agents, the business network, and the public administration. The IISPV provides its researchers with all the equipment, human resources, and infrastructures (such as Metabolomic platform, Clinical Studies Unit, Biobank, Bioinformatic service, Cytometry unit and cell sorting, Histological, cytological and digitization study and Pharmacy clinical management) necessary for the success of their projects. The research carried out in the IISPV is divided in four main areas: Metabolic diseases and nutrition; Infection, immunity, and environment; Oncology; and Neurosciences and Mental health; having an extensive experience in the management coordination of competitive national and international projects. The IISPV aims to be a national and international reference center in biomedical research and translation, at the service of the population, linking the health centers to the community.