Mexico: Health sector creates consortium to boost research projects
The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) and the Ministry of Health (SSA) have agreed to create a Research Consortium in Transnational Medicine and Innovation with the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The NIH forms a very prominent part of health system and provide services with high quality services for free. Mexico occupies the 29th position in scientific production globally and second in Latin America. UNAM is the most important academic center of the country with 4,598 researchers in the National System of Researchers (SNI), followed by the CONACYT research centers with 1,661.
The NIH and the Hospitals of High Specialty have 1,188 SNI researchers. The formation of the “National Consortium for Research and Innovation in Translational Medicine” will allow a greater involvement of UNAM, CONACYT and the health sector to move from basic research to clinical applications and technological developments.
Inter-institutional cooperation becomes the backbone of this consortium. Transnational medicine was defined as medicine/technology where one can transfer from one place to another. The NIH will be conducting most of the clinical research and teaching supported by UNAM and CONACYT.
The consortium will also be supported by trusts, foundations and companies. Within this framework, awards were given to 10 distinguished researchers from the health system.
