Elisabet Fernandez

The IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute is an international landmark and leading centre for research into the eradication of HIV/AIDS and related diseases. IrsiCaixa researchers also tackle other biomedical challenges, such as those associated with the microbiome and emerging infectious diseases. IrsiCaixa was created as a private non-profit foundation in 1995 with the support of “la Caixa” Foundation and the Department of Health of the Generalitat of Catalonia. Its director is Dr. Bonaventura Clotet, who is also president of the Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation and head of the Infectious Diseases Unit of the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital. IrsiCaixa is located in this hospital, next to the Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation, which makes for a unique model of collaboration between researchers, healthcare professionals, patients and community representatives. This transfer of knowledge between key stakeholders makes for novel solutions that facilitate progress towards eradication of HIV infection. IrsiCaixa research is based on a combined strategy to eradicate AIDS, based on five strategic lines that include the development of vaccines and antibodies against HIV. The centre also participates in clinical trials to evaluate novel therapeutic strategies and cooperates with low-income countries in the global fight against the pandemic.