IrsiCaixa

No, irsiCaixa's primary function is in scientific research in retrovirology and to translate knowledge and results to the clinic (as we say "from the lab bench to the bed side"). For this reason irsiCaixa is located in the 'Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol' in Badalona, one of the three major public and academic hospitals in Catalonia. The irsiCaixa Fountation's laboratory is next door to the HIV-1 outpatient clinical unit, where specialized physicians care for hundreds of patients every year and are responsible for many clinical studies that bring the newest drugs and experimental treatments to the hospital. The proximity of irsiCaixa to the HIV-1 outpatient clinic facilitates, on one hand, the interaction between research and clinical applicability, and on the other it allows the time-sensitive processing of blood samples drawn from the patients for analytical protocols, which is critical in many HIV-1 study procedures.