Maternal child healthcare and assisted reproduction

The objective of researchers working in the fields of maternal and child health and human reproduction is to innovate and provide answers to the fertility problems of many couples, to improve the health of pregnant women and to increase the safety of the mother and child at birth. We focus our efforts on caring for foetal health, the analysis of congenital malformations involving the heart, brain and eyes, and improving the diagnosis of certain genetic disorders, especially in relation to intellectual disability and diseases linked to the X chromosome. Through research, we aim to improve our understanding of paediatric cancer, especially brain tumours and genetic predisposition to cancer, and some rare diseases such as osteogenesis imperfecta and histocytosis, to develop better diagnostic methods and new treatments. We are concerned about the health problems of children and adolescents, in particular conditions related to prematurity and those associated with severe conditions or requiring urgent intervention.

Our leadership at the national and international level has been demonstrated by awards obtained in the field of human reproduction, in the production of guidelines for normal delivery, in coordination with the Network for Cooperative Research in Health on Maternal and Child Health and Development (SAMID) that includes researchers from across Spain, the European Neonatal Network  (EuroNeoNet), and other projects on drug development for paediatric populations such as the GRIP and NeoCirculation projects, funded by the EU Seventh Programme for Research and Technological Development. We also carry out animal-based studies, basic research and, in particular, clinical research to innovate and progress towards finding solutions for problems related to sterility, pregnancy, child birth and diseases from the foetal stage to adolescence. We seek to innovate in reproduction and improve foetal health, while the health of pregnant women, infants and children of any age drive our research.