The University Institute of Biomedical Technologies of the University of La Laguna (ITB) celebrates two decades of research activity in 2026. Created in 2006 by the Government of the Canary Islands, the ITB was founded with the ambition of making the Canary Islands a leading center for competitive and translational biomedicine, and scientific data confirm that this ambition is becoming a reality.
Today, the ITB manages over thirty lines of research distributed across three programs—Genetic and Rare Diseases, Chronic Diseases Related to Aging, and Neurobiology and Diseases of the Nervous System—with an active presence in the two leading university hospitals in Tenerife and in nine departments of the University of La Laguna (ULL). This interdisciplinary and integrated structure between the university and the healthcare system is, in my opinion, the institute's greatest strength.
The achievements of the 2024-2025 period speak for themselves. Our research groups have published 324 scientific articles indexed in JCR or SJR, with contributions to top-tier journals such as Nature Metabolism, PNAS, Science, Lancet Respiratory Medicine, and the Journal of Hepatology. We have supervised 22 doctoral theses, many of which received international distinction. And the external funding secured in these two years has exceeded €14.8 million, with a growing presence in high-level European calls for proposals, including the Horizon WIDERA FOCUS-4R project, which our institute coordinates for the University of La Laguna (ULL).
The definitive consolidation of our operations in our new headquarters, with fully equipped laboratories, management areas, and an animal facility funded by ACIISI, has qualitatively transformed our operational capacity. And the agreement signed in March 2026 between the Tenerife Island Council, the University of La Laguna (ULL), and the Bioavance Foundation to construct six new floors above the existing building, adding more than 4,000 m² of new laboratories and research spaces with an investment exceeding €10.5 million, solidifies ITB as a long-term scientific infrastructure, capable of meeting the challenges ahead.
The twentieth anniversary of ITB is not just a milestone: it is an opportunity to consolidate what has been achieved and shape the future. We celebrated it on September 17th and 18th with the ITB 20th Anniversary Symposium, a gathering that brought together collaborators, friends, and leading figures in national and international biomedicine. In the coming years, we will work to strengthen translational research, attract new research talent, and deepen our commitment to serving the health of the Canary Islands community and global biomedical science.
Diego Álvarez de la Rosa
Director of the University Institute of Biomedical Technologies
University of La Laguna