About AIV
The Vaccine Research Area (AIV) is one of the key assets of Fisabio Foundation.
We contribute to a better understanding of infectious diseases that can be prevented, or potentially prevented by vaccination, and evaluate their effectiveness and safety.
How We Started
AIV opens its doors in 2009 with Dr. Javier Díez Domingo. Since then, this group has dedicated more than 10 years to doing innovative research to improve the health of citizens.
In its early years we focused on the development of clinical trials and observational studies with a modest budget, but we soon began a process of internationalisation.
Actuality
We are currently working on many competitive projects from the most important national and international calls such as those of the Regional Ministry of Health, Regional Ministry of Education, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, IMI, COST or H2020, among others.
Consolidating itself as a European center of reference in vaccine and infectious disease research, with an internationally accredited team.
2009
Foundation of the Vaccine Research Unit.
2010
Creation of the network VAHNSI.
2011
Center with the highest rate of recruitment of subjects in Spain, and fourth in the world in a clinical trial with a new vaccine against Herpes Zoster.
Participation in the first European project: Enabling Knowledge Sustainability Usability and Recovery for Economic value (ENSURE).
2013
We started collaborating with the World Health Organization (WHO).
2016
We published our 100th article.
2017
Coordination of the first H2020 project: i-CONSENT. Improving the guidelines for the elaboration of informed consents.
Participation in the first Phase I clinical trial in the pediatric population, with a new vaccine against respiratory Syncytial virus with the highest recruitment rate in Spanish children aged 12 to 23 months.
2019
Center with the highest subject recruitment rate in Spain in an
epidemiological study of respiratory Syncytial virus (EPI RSV 022) in people over the age of 50.
We promote the diversity of different professional profiles in different projects
FISABIO
Fundació per al Foment de la Investigació Sanitària i Biomèdica de la Comunitat Valenciana (FISABIO).
FISABIO is a non-profit organization of scientific and welfare nature, whose main purpose is to promote, boost and develop scientific-technical, health and biomedical research and innovation in the Valencian Community.
FISABIO integrates and manages the scientific activity of 18 departments of health, Physio-Public Health and Physio-Medical Ophthalmology. It also coordinates the Valencian Network of Biobanks. Thanks to its functional structure, FISABIO provides service to more than 1,500 professionals from the Valencian network of health services and manages the research and clinical trial work carried out by these specialists.
Durante 2018, la Fundación gestionó más de 427 ensayos clínicos, 297 proyectos de investigación internacionales, 337 estudios observacionales y posee 8 patentes. Como resultado de la actividad de investigación, se han publicado más de 600 artículos científicos.
Área de investigación de vacunas (AIV)
We have a powerful infrastructure of different facilities, resources, equipment and services dedicated to clinical research and development.
The basis of the work of AIV is the life cycle of vaccines from the screening stage to surveillance.
AIV focuses on the development of clinical trials, epidemiological studies, and post-authorization.
For the development of our activities, we have a powerful infrastructure consisting of different facilities, resources, equipment and services dedicated to clinical research and development.
VAHNSI Network
AIV coordinates the VAHNSI network. An active hospital surveillance network for the study of respiratory viruses in the Valencian Community (Spain).
VAHNSI (Valencia Hospital Surveillance Network for the Study of Influenza and other Respiratory Viruses).
Each season between 4 and 10 hospitals in the Valencian Community take part in the study. All patients who are admitted with a diagnosis possibly related to a respiratory infection are given a sample. All samples are sent to a centralised laboratory in FISABIO and are analysed by means of real-time RT-PCR for the detection of flu, RSV, coronavirus, rhinovirus, bocavirus, adenovirus, metaneumovirus and parainfluenza.
Due to the recent pandemic, the laboratory has incorporated the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in its PCR, and even the complete sequence of the virus genome in a positive case detected in one of the hospitals.
The VAHNSI network is, in turn, involved in various European/ global platforms and projects of great magnitude dedicated to the study of respiratory viruses such as:
- DRIVE (IMI project on flu coordinated by FISABIO).
- GIHSN (Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network, initiated by Sanofi Pasteur in 2011)
- RSV GEN (network coordinated by the University of Edinburgh).
- GISAID (platform for the study of influenza).
- ACCESS (creation of a platform for the study of SARS-CoV-2)
VIVA Network
The VIVA Network (Instituto de Vacunas de Valencia) is a network of satellite centers formed by more than 30 health professionals and 10 Primary Care Centers.
Both the centers and the healthcare professionals have wide experence in paedriatic clinical trials and investigation.
These professionals meet regularly at high level scientific round tables with the aim of stimulating debate, keeping up to date on vaccine issues and exploring new avenues of research.
In addition, the Vaccine Research Area has a team dedicated exclusively to the development of trials in adults.
Real World Evidence
We have access to one of the best computerized health database systems. It records socio-demographic and health data from all over the Valencian Community.
The potential of these databases lies in the number of variables available to us, and fundamentally, in their capacity to cross all the information between them by means of the patient's identification number.
The data provided to us are of very good quality and have allowed us to achieve wide experience in studies of effectiveness and impact of vaccines, and epidemiological studies of vaccine-preventable diseases could also serve as a basis for machine learning and Artificial Intelligence studies.
Advanced Analysis Equipment (AAT)
The AAT team, which offers the best of engineering and data science skills to address a wide variety of research activities
- Applied statistics, probability, data modeling techniques, predictive modeling techniques
- SOP and method development
- Management and analysis of Real World Evidence and Big Data
- Bayesian Inference
- Space-time modeling
- Development of user-friendly data visualisation tools and applications RotApp!
- Data processing
- Mathematical modeling of infectious diseases
- Vaccine Effectiveness, Waning Effect and Vaccination Strategies and Impact Analysis
- Computer skills: R, Stata, WinBUGS, JAGS, Phyton and other statistical and mathematical software.
CEC AIV
The IIV clinical trial centre has a team of health professionals (medical and nursing staff) dedicated full time to clinical trials.
It also has a network of satellite centers made up of more than 10 primary care centers and health professionals.
AIV has a long history of clinical trials with Phase I, II and III vaccines. We work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, but also conduct independent clinical trials.
The quality of our work is supported by various audits and inspections. We are preparing our participation in clinical trials with a COVID-19 vaccine.In addition, AIV has a team dedicated exclusively to the development of clinical trials in adults.
