In the ceremony presided over by the Minister for Health on 16th December at 20.00 in the Hotel Palace in Madrid, the Fundación Lilly presented the book: “Reflexiones sobre la Ciencia en España. El caso particular de la Biomedicina”

The work, which was supervised by Doctors José Antonio Gutiérrez Fuentes and José Luis Puerta López-Cózar, analyses the current situation of Science in Spain and discusses the reasons which have led to it and suggest possible solutions, in the current Spanish context.

The second part of the book focuses on Biomedical Science, analysing the state of research, from the centres dedicated to basic knowledge, hospitals and centres which conduct clinical research, and the commercial development of applications, highlighting their virtues and failings.

given the high profile of the authors and the current overriding importance of the subject, “we hope that the book will gain the attention of the scientific world, and that it will draw attention to the need for Spain to position itself scientifically as appropriate for its political, social and economic significance,” to cite Doctor Gutiérrez Fuentes.

With their broad experience in research, innovation and technological development, the authors have compiled, updated, analysed and proposed solutions to what is generally considered to be an undesirable situation, providing researchers, clinical practitioners and scientific and health decision makers in Spain with extensive information and a broad catalogue of ideas, confident that they represent the feelings and opinions of a great number of scientists and the general public.

In the words of Doctor Puerta, one of the editors of the book, “the book is divided into two broad sections. The first part describes the scientific situation of Spain in the global context, as well as reflecting on the benefits gained in terms of the development of modern societies as a result of scientific research. The second part provides a detailed analysis of our biomedical research."

Index

Reflexiones sobre la Ciencia en España
El caso particular de la Biomedicina

Prologue
Emilio Méndez
Introduction
José A. Gutiérrez Fuentes, José L. Puerta López-Cózar

Part One
The “controversy of science in Spain”
José L. Puerta López-Cózar

Science as a social model
José Luis González Quirós

The international context of R&D in the 21st century:
Juan Manuel Rojo

The context of research in Spain
Juan Mulet Meliá

Researchers in Spain:
Mariano Barbacid, Carmelo Fernández

Assessing research
Carlos Prieto Carles, Antonio García Romero

Management of biomedical research
José A. Gutiérrez Fuentes, Manuel Carrasco Mallén

The need for the public and private sectors to work together to generate knowledge
José Manuel Giral

How to make R&D investment attractive in Spain
Carlos Benítez, Manuel Lobato

Part Two

Biomedical research in Spain and its context
Emilio Muñoz Ruiz

Basic and clinical biomedical research in Spain
Joan Rodés Teixidor, Federico Mayor Menéndez

Contribution of private initiatives to biomedical research in
Spain. The role of the pharmaceutical industry
Juan Carlos Gómez, Carmen Bueno, Manel Martínez

R&D in the biomedical instrument and medical device sector
Javier Colás Fustero

Part three

Final reflection, summary and conclusions
José Antonio Gutiérrez Fuentes, José L. Puerta López-Cózar