Managing Director Carles Constante Deputy Manager Sergi Cuadrado Director of Communication Bianca Pont Finance and Administration Area Laura Delgado Finance Silvia Nuñez Post-Award Finances Mariona Pons Business Development, Innovation and Systems Area Carlos López Legal Advice Joaquim Campoy Innovation Mario de la Cuesta Clinical Contracts and Budgets Yasmina Bernabé IT Alfred Gutierrez High Technology Unit Elena Serrano General Services and Infrastructures Area Sergi Simón GS and Infrastructures Sergi Simón Laboratory Coordination Nuria Colome People Area People Management Vanessa Manzano Talent and Development Anna Galera Quality Area Gemma Sala General & Lab Quality Deborah Lo Giacco Clinical Trials Quality Gemma Sala
VHIO's Management Area
VHIO's Steering Committee plays an important role in both leadership and decision-making to ensure that decisions are taken in a well-informed manner through effective planning, monitoring and supervision of the organisation and its activities. Our Executive Committee is made up of VHIO’s Director, the Director of our Scientific Management Area, VHIO’s Managing Director and Deputy Manager, as well as our Director of Communication.
VHIO’s Management Area is made up of five main teams. They are Finance and Administration, Business Development, Innovation and Systems, General Services and Infrastructures, Quality Area and our People Area.
We lead activities and processes that are carried out to plan, organize, direct and oversee VHIO's resources to deliver on VHIO’s objectives and goals.
Main responsibilities:
- Planning: we set objectives, identify the necessary resources, define the strategies required to achieve those objectives and program timeframes for the implementation of action points.
- Organization: the allocation of resources, including people, finances, materials and time. We also define responsibilities and reporting lines, and set out the necessary procedures and processes for carrying out the tasks and objectives set.
- Management: we lead and motivate people and teams within the organization to work together to achieve set objectives. Management involves communicating VHIO’s vision, setting clear goals, motivating staff, making decisions and resolving conflicts.
- Oversight: we monitor and evaluate performance, to ensure that the set objectives are being met, and to identify areas for improvement and implement actions to strengthen performance.
Together, these management fundamentals provide a solid structure for evidence-based decision-making and efficient management of VHIO's resources.
In short, our management team contributes to the development of general policy and strategic planning at VHIO. We are responsible for enabling and translating the Institute's scientific vision and strategic objectives into a clearly articulated operational strategy, as well as VHIO's financial management.
- Sustainable growth in personnel, infrastructure and financial resources, laying solid structural and organizational foundations to maintain the quality of the activities performed to date and to ensure long-term sustainability.
- Attract and retain the best talents by offering a working environment of scientific excellence that is committed to social values such as gender equality, integrity, transparency, and respect for the environment.
- Achieve optimal levels of quality linked to the services of biomedical research projects in oncology that translate into the satisfaction of the needs of clients, whether internal or external to Vall d'Hebron. It also has the strategic objective of demonstrating the administrative capacity and technical competence of the VHIO laboratories for the performance of clinical analyses linked to the biomedical research that is carried out.
- Promote digital transformation and data-driven management, implementing tools and processes that enhance operational efficiency, enable real-time decision-making, and support compliance with data protection and research integrity standards.
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation in management, by regularly reviewing procedures, encouraging feedback from stakeholders, and adopting best practices in governance, project management, and resource optimization.
- VHIO is committed to maintaining its management and research support structure. As VHIO continues to expand, with an increasing number of projects and initiatives, we have incorporated new talents within our teams to strengthen optimal support and management. In 2024, we welcomed Anna Galera, who leads our Talent and Development Unit.
- The percentage of structural personnel (general structure and research structure) is 14.62% of the total number of personnel linked to VHIO. If only structural staff were counted, the percentage would be 5.1%.
- Last year, VHIO’s Board of Trustees approved our Strategic Plan presented for the period 2023-2025. This document, VHIO Strategy 2023-2025, has been deployed based on annual action planning, which has been annually monitored to assess the degree of implementation.
- In 2023, VHIO approved the II Equality Plan (2023-2026) in accordance with the Organic Law 3/2007, of March 22, for the effective equality of women and men (LOIEMH), with the aim of ensuring equal opportunities for all staff, as well as respect for diversity and the inclusion of people with disabilities in our society. Under the leadership and supervision of VHIO’s Equality Committee (which meets monthly to monitoring the measures planned), the Equality Plan sets out a series of measures to address and resolve any existing gender imbalances and inequalities. In addition, negotiations have been initiated for the elaboration of the first VHIO LGTBI+ Plan.
- On April, activity began in the new facilities, the Saturnino Center, with the transfer of the following groups: aCRO, Bioinformatics Unit, Computational Biology of Cancer Group, Immunogenomics Group, Oncology Data Science Group (ODysSey), Radiomics Group and Biostatistics Unit. This new premises provides 900.5 m2 new space devoted to strengthening innovation and technology at VHIO.
- A unified Quality Area has been created to integrate all quality-related activities at VHIO. This restructuring responds to the need for a global vision and coordinated management, as required by new accreditations across various areas. Many of the processes and documents within the quality system are cross-cutting in nature and impact the entire VHIO.
- Another development has been the selection of the winning proposal for the construction of the new VHIO building. Spanning 2,400 m2, this plot, situated adjacent to our CELLEX Building, will enable VHIO to sustain its growth in preclinical and translational research and deliver on priorities and action points set out the Strategic Plan 2023-2025.
- Continue to review VHIO’s internal organizational structure to meet our strategic objectives and respond to future challenges.
- Increase core funding and explore new sources of support toward accelerating scientific discovery against cancer.
- Complete all the necessary documentation, procedures and processes to initiate the construction of our new building.
- Implement and optimize High Technology Unit (HTU) equipment and a new cell-sorting and spatial transcriptomics platforms.
- Further strengthen VHIO’s People Area, talent acquisition, and develop a talent-focused strategic plan.
- Reinforce planning, monitoring, and learning by defining and implementing a KPI scorecard to measure VHIO’s performance and support more evidence-based decision-making.