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Biomedicine is one of the sectors with the greatest socio-economic impact in our environment. Society demands a better quality of life every day, which in turn depends on the proper development of the biomedical sector. In recent decades, there have been great advances in the different disciplines involved in this field, which has allowed us to deepen our knowledge of the human organism, the biophysical and biochemical foundations that explain its functioning in a state of health, and the cellular and molecular bases of diseases. As a result of all this, a powerful biomedical sector has emerged that requires professionals with highly specialized training, both in the public and private sectors.
Therefore, if we consider Biomedicine as a multidisciplinary science that aims to delve into the logic of life in order to improve the health of individuals, we can justify the design of the proposed Degree, which aims to offer highly specialized training in each of the disciplines that make up the training plan, while at the same time being interrelated with each other.
This interdepartmental and interfaculty programme has been designed to combine teaching activities aimed at postgraduate students in those areas of knowledge in which, at the University of La Laguna, lines of excellent research related, to a greater or lesser degree, to biomedicine are developed. The aim is to create a programme that integrates strata of basic and applied knowledge.
This programme aims, therefore, to be a quality postgraduate offering, with an orientation towards training in biomedical research, potentially useful for the Bachelor's Degrees in Biology, Pharmacy, Medicine, Chemistry and Psychology at the University of La Laguna, as well as a way to train professionals and doctors among the graduates of these Bachelor's Degrees. Likewise, this programme is intended as a training opportunity for graduates of these and other related qualifications, from Spanish and foreign universities, who wish to continue their university studies in these fields of knowledge.
References outside the University.
The subjects taught in this programme address current issues, which is why a significant number of prestigious universities, both in Spain and abroad, offer master's degrees with similar content. Examples include the Master's Degree in Biomedicine from the University of Barcelona, the Postgraduate Programme in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine from the University of Seville, the Official Postgraduate Programme in Biotechnology and Biomedicine from the University of Alicante, the Master's Degree in Medical Biotechnology from the Pompeu Fabra University, and the Master's Degree in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedicine from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, among others, at Spanish universities. Likewise, outside our country there are other similar programs, such as the MSC in Biomedical Sciences Research from King's College London (United Kingdom), the Master in Biomedicine and Biotechnology from the University of Vienna (Austria), the Master of Health Science from John Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD, USA), as well as numerous equivalent degrees taught at universities in the United States, Australia and various European countries.
External and internal consultation procedures for the development of the study plan.
With regard to the previous postgraduate courses offered at the University of La Laguna related to this programme, it should be noted that it has as direct antecedents the doctoral programmes entitled Basic Biomedical Research and Biomedical and Clinical Surgical Research, on the one hand, and Life and Environmental Sciences, on the other, which have constituted the third cycle offer that at this university has allowed access to the doctorate title to graduates from the Faculties of Medicine, Biology and Pharmacy. Also, the interuniversity doctoral programme in Cognitive Neuroscience, and the Official Postgraduate Programme (POP) Biomedicine and Biotechnology, both with a Quality Mention.
Based on the experience acquired during the existence of the POP Biomedicine and Biotechnology, a design committee for the New Degree was established – made up of professors who had taught and in permanent contact with the Academic Council – which used as a reference data provided by the ULL Analysis and Planning Office related to academic aspects (content and organization), number of graduates who continued their doctoral thesis and a student satisfaction survey.
This committee worked based on the regulations of the ULL and its Postgraduate Studies Committee to establish the proposal that is being put forward. At the ULL, various consolidated lines of research are being developed whose subject matter can be considered as belonging to areas of biomedicine or related to them, in which students can acquire theoretical and practical training in general scientific methodology and in specific techniques, and carry out the research work corresponding to their Master's Final Projects and/or Doctoral Thesis. Most of these lines of research - one of the strengths of the proposed Degree - will be integrated both in the Master's Degree that is now being proposed and in the Doctorate in Biomedical Sciences.
Furthermore, this programme actively involves various research groups from the three university institutes related to the subject matter of the programme (the “Antonio González” Bioorganic University Institute, the Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health of the Canary Islands, and the Institute of Biomedical Technologies), as well as the Research Units of the University Hospitals of Tenerife (Canary Islands University Hospital and Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University Hospital). Finally, it is worth noting the possible conversion of this degree into a joint degree, incorporating the participation of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the near future.
The success of any knowledge-based economy depends on the generation, dissemination and application of that knowledge and, therefore, on the regional, national and international environment in which it is developed. Spain's position in the development of biotechnology is marked by the efforts made in our country throughout the 1980s to promote science and technology. In the effort developed from the 1980s onwards, biotechnology was considered the technology model for launching a policy of decisive state support. Since then, total investment in biotechnology, stimulated by state support for R&D projects, has been more than 100 million euros, of which just over 50% corresponds to the public sector.
A breakdown of funding by sector indicates a predominance of the Health sector, 53%, which includes the development of pharmaceutical products, especially vaccines, proteins, peptides and high added value macromolecules obtained by genetic engineering; and diagnostic products, basically monoclonal antibodies and DNA probes. The remainder corresponds to the agri-food sector, 30%; chemicals, 12 %, and environmental protection, 5 %. In recent years, there has been a great increase in the effort devoted to biomedical and biotechnological research in Spain, which has allowed the generation of knowledge and the acquisition of experience, to the point of having favoured the breeding ground capable of supporting the creation of technology-based companies in both the food and health sectors. Although a significant number of companies have been created in these sectors during this time, all the data indicate that there is sufficient technological capacity to undertake many more projects.
Despite the current economic crisis and its impact on resource distribution, it is clear that the economic and social sectors related to the training provided by this degree require and will continue to require professionals with highly specialized training. The University of La Laguna has professors and researchers who are proven specialists and conduct competitive research in areas directly related to Biomedicine, as demonstrated by the lines of research included in the program and the CVs of the participating professors and researchers. This guarantees that this program will be able to offer quality training for future professionals in these sectors. Furthermore, the relationships between these professors and researchers and colleagues who work at other national and supranational institutions—who may be invited to participate in the degree's training plan—will contribute to further cementing the quality of graduate training.