The Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición: CIBERObn) is a public research consortium which was founded on November 28, 2006 financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN).

The CIBERObn gathers 31 investigation groups from different Spanish Hospitals, Universities and Research Centres. Its mission is to promote a better knowledge about the mechanisms contributing to obesity development in order to reduce its incidence and prevalence, as well as its complications, in addition to nutrition-related diseases.

The CIBERObn is structured into 8 scientific programs intended to increase the collaboration between researchers, to strengthen synergies and to boost new research lines. Programs are as follows:

  1. Nutrition: effects of different types of diet and nutrients on human health.
  2. Adipobiology: identification of new signals released by the adipose tissue which are involved in the regulation of energy homeostasis.
  3. Obesity and Cancer: role of those proteins associated with cell cycle on metabolic control and obesity development.
  4. Obesity and Cardiovascular risk: hemodynamic, metabolic and inflammatory factors associated to cardiac and vascular diseases in obesity.
  5. Neurocognitive and Environmental Factors: environmental and emotional factors in nutrition and obesity disorders.
  6. Obesity in Childhood-Adolescence Period: biochemical, hormonal, metabolic, genetic, proteomic and body-composition study in children and adolescents.
  7. Biomarkers: new strategies, therapeutic and prevention technologies, biomarkers of obesity.
  8. Biological Models and Therapeutic Targets: development and validation of experimental models and therapeutic targets in case of obesity.

Additionally, CIBERObn lays a particular emphasis on translational research, specially focusing on research transfer to clinical applications and practices. To this end, two cross-cutting programs have been created:

  • Staff Training and Recruitment, which is intended to train our staff according to our research lines and priorities
  • Fat Bank” Structural Program: biobank infrastructure connecting the above-mentioned programs in a cross way by contributing with common solutions.

The Fat Bank is a strategic platform of the CIBERObn which offers the Scientific Community different kinds of biological material which are associated to thorough metabolic phenotyping. This information is entered by means of a tailor-made individualised software. This fat-bank- launched in 2009- currently contains 3000 samples of biologic material from more than 300 individuals.[1]

In 2009, 287 indexed articles were published. Their average impact factor is 4.05, which is very high for this subject area. Of them, 67 (23%) belong to the first decile and 105 more (total 172 papers, 60%) belong to the first quartile of the subject area of indexed journals. They accumulate a total impact factor of 1,165. Provisional data of 2010 show an increase of 10%, highly improving the international visibility of the consortium.

References

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  1. ^ Internet, Unidad Editorial. "Nace el primer biobanco español de tejido adiposo | Corazón | elmundo.es". www.elmundo.es. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
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CIBEROBN website