Programmes

Robotic surgery is a well-established field at Vall d’Hebron from a clinical perspective, with steadily growing activity and a dedicated organisational structure, including the Robotic Surgery Committee, which has played a key role in driving its development.

Throughout 2025, this field reached an important milestone with the progressive establishment of the resources and strategic partnerships required to enable a significant qualitative leap. In particular, progress in the recruitment of specialised professionals and the public procurement processes for robotic surgery systems has helped shape a favourable environment for the expansion of this activity.

In parallel, the planning of the new facilities within the future VHIR central building—particularly the new Experimental Surgery Unit (ESU)—has enabled the conceptualisation of new capabilities in advanced simulation and training within controlled environments, laying the foundations for integrating research, education and innovation in minimally invasive surgery.

Together, these developments have made it possible, during 2025, to define the vision and foundations of the Program Simulation & Robotic Surgery, a strategic initiative aimed at positioning Vall d’Hebron as a leading hub for robotic surgery and simulation. The program, which will launch in 2026 under the leadership of Dr David Virós and Dr Gonzalo Sapisochín, is designed to advance specialised training, translational research and technological innovation in this field.

The integration of sex, gender and diversity perspectives into health research has become an increasingly important area at Vall d’Hebron, with progressively more structured activities aimed at improving the quality, equity and capacity of research to address the diversity of the populations it serves.

Throughout 2025, this field has gained significant momentum through the consolidation of several lines of activity. More than eight training initiatives on sex, gender and diversity perspectives in health research have been delivered; two competitive research projects, DEISa and BISC, have been launched; and the European network WISE, focused on advancing intersectionality in research, has been coordinated. In parallel, two Horizon Europe proposals addressing women’s health have been promoted, while efforts to generate and disseminate scientific knowledge in this field have been further strengthened.

This progress has been complemented by four multi-stakeholder co-creation activities involving quadruple helix actors, aimed at identifying challenges and proposing actions to strengthen inclusion and the integration of sex and gender perspectives both within the healthcare system and in the quality of the research conducted at Vall d’Hebron.

Together, these developments have made it possible, during 2025, to define the vision and foundations of the Program Women, Gender & Diversity in Health Research, a strategic initiative aimed at positioning Vall d’Hebron as a leading institution in the integration of sex, gender and diversity perspectives into health research. The program is committed to advancing knowledge generation, education and training, the development of methodologies and tools, competitive research, and the effective integration of these perspectives throughout the entire research cycle, thereby contributing to more rigorous, inclusive, equitable and socially relevant science.