Our group belongs to two institutions: the Universitat de València and the INCLIVA Health Research Institute, a research institute based at the Hospital Clínic Universitari of Valencia. This situation allows us to collaborate directly with clinicians in a wide range of disciplines to develop appropriate translational research. 

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), such as coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke, remain the leading cause of death in most European countries and atherosclerosis is the main contributor to them. In recent years, it has become clear that systemic inflammation is the main driver in the development of premature atherosclreosis and its complications. In this regard, it appears that low-grade systemic inflammation is often associated with metabolic disorders such as obesity and metabolic syndrome. 

Since 1992 our group has been working in the area of immunity and inflammation and, more precisely, in understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in endothelial dysfunction. As a result, we have found new potential biomarkers of cardiovascular disease and/or new therapeutic interventions to prevent endothelial dysfunction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), menopause or diabetes. In addition, we have proceeded to develop new active compounds with potential therapeutic applications in cardiovascular and metabolic disorders thanks to the union some years ago with the group of "Synthesis and Isolation of Bioactive Molecules" of the Department of Pharmacology with which we applied for and obtained joint projects in Competitive Calls. These collaborations will allow us to provide new insights into the understanding of the pathologies under study, therapeutic success and the generation of new patentable drugs. 

Today, inflammation and immunology are key areas in the understanding of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, cancer and neurological disorders among other pathologies. We would also like to highlight that our group has received continuous funding since 1998 in Competitive Calls at national and regional level. It has also participated in several COST actions of the European Union and many of its members are part of different groups of CIBERDEM (CIBER on Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases). The principal researcher, Dr. Sanz, has more than 100 original articles in indexed journals, 3 reviews and 9 book chapters. Of the indexed journals, 70% of the articles have been published in Q1 journals in the category and of these 43% are in D1. The most important are those published in Circulation, Circ. Res., Blood, PNAS, Nat. Commun., J. Immunol., Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol., Thorax, Cardiovascular Res., Br. J. Pharmacol., etc. It has an h-index of 34. 

All senior members of the research team have spent more than 2 years at prestigious research centres abroad. They have a notable number of publications in indexed journals with a medium-high impact index within their category. They have also supervised numerous doctoral theses in doctoral programmes with Quality Mention, many of them European. The group promotes short stays in research centres abroad during the pre-doctoral training of its doctoral students. A patent has recently been applied for with the new active ingredients synthesised and tested by our research group. Our group therefore carries out research that is clearly translational but with a clear projection towards the transfer of the results of its research.

Contributors

• Patrice Gomes Marques - Research Foundation of the Hospital Clínic of the Comunitat Valenciana.
• Luisa María Hueso Soler - Research Foundation of the Hospital Clínic of the Comunitat Valenciana.

Work team

• Gonzalo Boigues López - Research Foundation of the Hospital Clínic of the Comunitat Valenciana.
• Francisca Selles Sorlí - Research Foundation of the Hospital Clínic of the Comunitat Valenciana.
• Laura Vila Dasí - Research Foundation of the Hospital Clínic of the Comunitat Valenciana.

Investigation activities