The Research Support Services are organized into professionally specialized functional areas.
Sergi Cuadrado
Deputy Manager
With a background in Business Sciences and Business Administration and Management, Sergi Cuadrado specializes in strategy and process management, quality, and the use of technology in the organization and innovation, especially in the field of foundations, education and research centers. From the beginning he has been actively involved in the creation of various institutions in the education, health and research sectors, such as the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and its group companies as well as the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO). He has also participated in the implementation of quality systems and the business development of companies linked to clinical research such as MedSIR, of which he has been a member of the Board of Directors. He is currently Deputy Manager of VHIO and Founding Partner-Manager of Clinical Research Office Management S.L. (iCROM).
The Deputy Manager supports the Manager in the day-to-day management of the institution. Reporting directly to the Deputy Manager, by assignment of the Manager, are the VHIO Quality Program and the Human Resources and Training Area. He represents Management on the Gender Equality Committee, on the HRS4R Committee, in negotiations with the Works Committee, on the Health and Safety Committee and on the Vall d’Hebron Campus Training Commission. He is also responsible for coordinating the Patronage Unit. On an interim basis, he also assumes the coordination of the technical secretariat.
Laura Delgado
Director
VHIO’s Finance and Administration Department is responsible for the planning, execution and analysis of VHIO’s financial situation. The objective is to provide accurate economic information in order to facilitate decision-making.
Finance and Management Control
This department’s objective is to ensure the correctness of financial data and the fulfillment of all accounting and tax obligations. For this purpose, it is supported by different units: Invoicing and Treasury, Purchasing, Accounting and Financial Information Systems.
Carlos López
Director
The Business Development, Innovation and Information Systems and Technology Department of VHIO covers the areas of activity of the center associated with the following aspects: 1) negotiation, legal review and management of research agreements and contracts with public and private entities, 2) the negotiation of economic reports of clinical trials, 3) the management of the intellectual and industrial property of the center as well as the evaluation and support for the creation of spin-offs, 4) the management of VHIO’s information systems and technologies, and 5) the management of high-tech equipment. Following this scheme, the unit is organized in 5 areas that develop the following functions:
Coordination Budgets and Contracts EECC
The department is responsible for the management of clinical trial contracts, including all the stages of the negotiation process of the economic conditions of the clinical trials carried out in the center, as well as the dialogue and relationship with the contract management teams of sponsors and CROs. The department coordinates all internal activities related to the review of clinical trial fees, the review and update of billable items and the management of conditions and collaboration agreements, both internal and external to VHIO.
Innovation
VHIO’s Innovation Department is responsible for identifying, evaluating and valorizing innovative projects, actively managing industrial property and the search for public and private funding for the advancement of these projects. Focused on fostering a culture and policies of innovation and entrepreneurship, the department establishes strategic partnerships with industrial players and agents, driving the development and commercialization of VHIO’s innovation pipeline. It also specializes in the creation and monitoring of VHIO spin-offs.
Legal and Compliance
The department is in charge of the management, negotiation and review of VHIO’s collaboration contracts: CDA, MTA, Service Provision Agreements, Collaboration, etc. Additionally, the department is responsible for the review and supervision of compliance with the regulations applicable to the activity developed in VHIO, as well as legal advice to the entity for the adequacy of all contracts and agreements to the applicable regulatory frameworks and the strategic objectives of the center.
Information Systems
The IT department at VHIO provides and maintains the technological infrastructure necessary for the development of the center’s research activity.
The unit is in charge of designing the Information Systems structure and implementing the resources and tools to ensure the integrity, security, confidentiality and availability of the data and research results developed at VHIO.
At the operational level, the main lines of action of the unit focus on: 1) implementing and maintaining computing and data storage platforms, 2) deploying collaborative platforms that facilitate the efficient management of research projects, 3) ensuring the proper functioning of analysis and data collection platforms, and 4) identifying, prioritizing and adapting emerging technologies to promote continuous improvement in VHIO’s information systems.
High Technology Unit
The High Technology Unit focuses on providing services to VHIO research groups in advanced technologies in the areas of microscopy, cytometry and single cell gene expression. These technologies allow a detailed exploration of cancer cells with the aim of generating new evidence to advance cancer research. The unit promotes, trains users in the correct use of the equipment that make up the 3 platforms and offers support to VHIO research groups for the generation of new cutting-edge results.
VHIO is committed to participating in the European Commission’s Human Resources for Research (HRS4R) strategy not only to strengthen its own policies, but also contribute to spurring research of excellence throughout Europe.
VHIO welcomes and fully supports the general values and principles as stated in the European Charter and Code highly respects the work of the European Commission in the crucial area of recruitment of researchers – representing an important forward step towards improved conditions for European investigators, and applauds the initiative of the HR Excellence in Research Award.
One of our strategic objectives is to better define, finely-tune and manage researchers’ recruitment and promotion polices by means of a professional career and assessment system. Therefore, in accordance with VHIO’s Internal Policies and within its legal scope, we hereby commit to applying the stated principles to our human resources policies for researchers and to promoting transparency, accessibility, equity and the pursuit of excellence in the recruitment of researchers.
Bianca Pont
Director
At the Communication Department, we work to explain to society and to different stakeholders what VHIO does and who for, with the aim of consolidating its prestige at national and international level, strengthening its brand and attracting potential donors for its research. We do this while creating internal synergies between VHIO teams and external synergies between national and international partners to promote the dissemination of the center’s scientific excellence. Created with this objective in May 2020, the Communication Department is an across-the-board service that, under the guide of Management, structures VHIO’s communication policy around different objectives aligned with the center’s strategic plan. Its activity is divided into different areas:
- External communication: scientific dissemination to different stakeholders (general population, opinion leaders, other centers and institutions, etc.), relationship with the media and management of press requests, coordination of events and public relations, coordination of VHIO’s digital strategy through the center’s website and social media networks.
- Internal communication: effective internal communication and participation channels to help increase employee identification with the VHIO brand and coordinate communication with employers to give greater visibility to programs.
- Corporate social responsibility: generation of socially responsible research by promoting outreach activities.
- Fundraising: promotion of a fundraising plan to raise additional funds for research, mainly through micro-patronage.
In all areas we have quantitative and qualitative indicators that allow us to monitor the different actions, assess their impact and implement complementary actions to achieve objectives, if necessary.
This direction is in charge of providing transversal support to all the activity that takes place in the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology. It is made up of two large areas:
Buildings and Services Coordination
Buildings and Services Coordination aims to manage and meet all the needs of the professionals at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology that are required for the proper development of its main activity, research. Therefore, the department manages and controls the operation of all the services and contracts associated with VHIO’s different sites on the Vall d’Hebron Campus, both the clinical trial care units within the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and the CELLEX Building.
It also manages the maintenance services of general facilities, service assistants and security and surveillance personnel, cleaning, pests, waste, IT, telephony and telecommunications, medical gases, energy consumption and specific maintenance, among others, which are necessary for proper day-to-day management.
The department works in coordination with the health and safety service and Laboratory Coordination.
Laboratory Coordination
VHIO’s Laboratory Coordination Department’s main aims are to provide technical support to keep the research and healthcare equipment functional, to ensure the supply of laboratory materials and solutions, and to provide safe spaces that allow VHIO’s research and medical staff to devote themselves entirely to scientific activity. For this reason, we also have clinical engineering and prep room services.
Reporting directly to Finance and Administration and functionally to Business Development, Innovation and Systems, the Project Management Area is responsible for the financial management of the different projects being carried out at VHIO. The group covers two distinct areas of work:
- Agreements/services and clinical trials: this includes the monitoring of the activity and its validation for subsequent invoicing.
- Competitive grants: communication with the different financing entities for the management of economic justifications, project extensions, change of items and audits of the different grants.
Internally, within the organization, the department provides support to the center’s researchers in the financial planning of their projects.
