IMIBIC Fellowship Programme for Personalised and Precision Medicine

Project Information

P2Med

Grant agreement ID: 847468

DOI

10.3030/847468

Project closed

EC signature date 2 April 2019

Start date 1 August 2019

End date 31 July 2025

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 1 324 080,00

EU contribution

€ 662 040,00

Coordinated by

FUNDACION PARA LA INVESTIGACION BIOMEDICA DE CORDOBA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - P2Med (IMIBIC Fellowship Programme for Personalised and Precision Medicine)

Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2025-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The latest developments in biomedical research have shown a shift toward a patient-centred medicine that allows for more tailored or personalised interventions. While this approach leads to more innovative solutions in diagnostics and medical treatments, it also requires a different set of skills for biomedical researchers. The generalisation of the use of –omics technologies, together with the access to vast amounts of patient data, requires specific training to ensure that researchers and medical doctors can make the most of this wealth of resources.

The Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC) designed the Fellowship Programme for Personalised and Precision Medicine (P2Med): A new fellowship programme that provided excellent researchers relevant, top-notch training and the opportunity to carry out forward-looking research in the field of personalised and precision medicine. P2Med aimed to improve the career prospects of experienced researchers through individualised research projects and career development plans with a focus on transferable and multidisciplinary skills. Skilled researchers will be able to achieve a higher impact on their research results, improve health services and create innovative products. This will contribute to a knowledge-based economy and society in Andalusia, in southern Spain, increasing Europe’s competitiveness in biomedical research.

Researchers were requested to design an innovative research project, including a plan for training, dissemination and communication activities, and submit a CV with their previous experience and merits. Applications were evaluated by external experts in the field and based on the criteria of excellence.

During their fellowships, the selected researchers developed a Career Development Plan together with their supervisor. It comprised the individual research project, yearly plans for training activities, teaching and mentoring, publications, scientific conferences, and communication to non-scientific audiences.

We can conclude that two of the main objectives of the programme, to contribute to improve the career prospects of the fellows, and to attract and to retain international talent, were achieved before the end of the programme in July 2025.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The first two years of the project focused on the launch of the programme, call communication, evaluation and selection process, and the appointment of the selected fellows. The programme started on 1st of August 2019 and it was delayed by the covid-19 pandemic, and consequently, extended for 1 year until July 2025.

The programme’s single Call for Applications remained open for three months, and it was announced through a Call Launch Notice and subsequent announcements in press, websites, social media, through thematic networks, news articles, presentations in international and national events and info sessions, email and social media campaigns, and in several job portals, including EURAXESS. The Call for Applications closed on the 10th of January 2020, and received 27 applications from researchers of 16 different nationalities and 18 different countries.

The evaluation and selection process took place in 2020, including an eligibility check, remote evaluation of the applications, and a personal interview. It followed an open, transparent, merit-based, impartial and equitable selection procedure based on peer review. Five panels chaired by international external independent experts were formed to conclude the evaluations. All the phases included a period for redress and involved international experts. The evaluation and selection process was finalised in October 2020 with the selection of seven researchers. Due to delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the appointment started in January 2021 and it ended in May 2022. One of the seven researchers selected eventually resigned the fellowship due to several complications raised during the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the start of the fellows’ individual projects, we focused on the implementation of their career development plans, the follow-up of their data management plans and ethics approvals. We also organised events and focused on their dissemination and communication activities. The six fellows that participated in the programme have been very active and participated in multiple communication and dissemination activities:
- 11 peer-reviewed manuscripts and one Open Access eBook.
- 1 open dataset on shotgun metagenomics data
- 29 dissemination events: congresses, workshops, seminars
- 23 communication events: EU Researcher's Night, science fairs and local events, hosting visits to our Institute

The online activity of the programme has also been high, with over one hundred publications (web, LinkedIn, Twitter/X), 193 followers in LinkedIn and 185 in Twitter, and over 20 thousand page views on our website.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

For IMIBIC, the programme’s launch was an important milestone. P2Med has been the first postdoctoral MSCA Cofund programme ever funded in the province of Cordoba and the first with the participation of the University of Cordoba. It has contributed to the institute’s internationalisation strategies and is in line with the regional strategies for research and innovation in health since 2020 up to the current strategy for 2025-2027. In this context, the implementation of the programme has helped IMIBIC to reinforce its international dimension, promote the international presence of its researchers, as well as to increase the number of international collaborations.

The programme has helped to improve the institute’s training offer and ensured an increase in the critical mass of postdoctoral staff. It has enabled IMIBIC to attract international talent by the appointment of six fellows with international experience, including two researchers who are not Spanish nationals, and another three Spanish nationals with over 5 years of research experience outside of Spain. Through the activities organised by the programme and by the fellows, the programme also supported the institute in the implementation of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Open Science.

Throughout the programme, the P2Med fellowships have provided the selected fellows with high quality translational research training, integrating scientific training with other critical non-scientific transferrable skills. This has enhanced their future career perspectives by providing a unique and specialised set of skills and knowledge in personalised and precision medicine. Furthermore, the P2Med fellowships aimed to have a positive impact on the fellows’ career by stimulating productivity through exposure to new ideas and methods.

The most relevant impact of the programme has been on the scientific careers of the fellows. Of the six fellows that started the programme, five have progressed in the research careers. This is the case for two fellows that have already progressed to senior positions within IMIBIC, one in the biomedical research path, and another within the Academia. Another three fellows have accessed to research and junior professorship positions at the University of Córdoba, paving the way to secure more senior and stable positions in Academia. These five fellows will continue their work as researchers in our Institute; we consider that the attraction and retention of talent is the main achievement of the IMIBIC-P2Med project, and of our participation in the H2020 MSCA-COFUND programme.

IMIBIC-P2Med Programme logo