The Vall d’Hebron Research Institute Strategic Plan 2021-2025 defines the general lines of action to follow in both research and knowledge transfer in order to face the new challenges and the needs of the coming years. As our motto tries to sum up, today’s research is tomorrow’s health”.
This strategy, aligned with the research and innovation policies of our Trustees as well as those at local, national, and European level, has the aim of achieving a balance between public service and being an innovative research centre, all within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2030).
The development of the Strategic Plan 2021-2025 has been highly participative, involving relevant actors who play a role in the research ecosystem. Everyone, from internal participants to our Trustees and strategic partners, plus relevant figures from the research and healthcare landscape, from both public and private institutions, has had their say in the development of our new strategy. Patients, and society in general, were also taken into account, following our main aim of, above all, improving the health and quality of life of individuals, as stated in our mission:
“We are an institution that promotes, develops and transfers the research of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital. Through international leadership and excellence in our research, we improve people’s health and quality of life”
This Vall d’Hebron Research vision summarises our ultimate goal, because “we want the research of Vall d’Hebron to transform: creating an impact on both health and quality of life of patients and society, generating social and economic wealth in a responsible and sustainable way, and becoming a global benchmark for new health ecosystems”.
The Vall d’Hebron Strategic Plan defines the main values of our institution that will help to set the strategy for the coming years: ethics and responsibility, leadership and ambition, inclusion and efficiency will drive Vall d’Hebron strategy in 2021-2025, in the wake of those set by the previous Strategic Plan (2016-2020) but with a particular view on our responsibility as leaders, our aims, and how we need to recognise and include society within our research.
Ethics and responsibility
Ethics, integrity, commitment and transparency are the basis of our actions, with the aim that our research and its results have a relevant impact at social, economic and environmental levels.
Leadership and ambition
We have a vocation for leadership and the ambition to be agents of transformation of the environment at both local and global levels. At the same time, we have a collaborative and integrative spirit.
Inclusion
We are an inclusive institution. Alliances, patients and society are our preferred areas of action.
Efficiency
We rise to the challenges of our day-to-day jobs with rigour, flexibility and effectiveness.
In 2021 we already initiated some actions to develop our strategic themes further. For instance, with the re-consideration of our scientific structure. After a profound discussion within the institution (involving researchers, members of the Internal Scientific Committee, and the external Scientific Advisory Board) the process resulted in a new scientific organisation that was finally approved by the Board of Trustees in December. This new structure, based on Health Challenges and those Enablers that allow us to develop a research of excellence, pretends to “consolidate the prestige of Vall d’Hebron research and its professionals by defining a scientific strategy focused on key and cutting-edge fields” (Strategic Theme 3).
The new scientific structure, more modern and flexible, aims to promote collaboration on resolving a common mission(s) by developing an impact-oriented research to improve society’s well-being by solving major health challenges.
In addition, we have established some transversal strategic themes that will also drive our actions in the coming years. Our roadmap includes the principles of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), the Human Research Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R) and, as mentioned above, it is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda 2030.
We aim to have a positive and relevant impact in society, extending beyond the walls of Vall d’Hebron and being capable of providing a benefit, not only for patients but also citizens and society in general, both from our catchment area and beyond. We want to continue being a reference in Research, and we can only do that by working every day on developing (an even better) research of excellence.
