This area is made up of 4 groups and 1 associated group, with close ties between each. In fact, cardiology experiments are carried out within the laboratory of the group investigating nephrology, vascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes.



The diabetes research group is a large team consisting of 12 principle investigaFoto1Foto1tors who work actively both within the group as well as with other groups belonging to the IIS-FJD and the FJD hospital proper, making it an ideal setting for budding researchers to learn from others. The Kidney, Metabolic and Cardiovascular Disease Area has a total of 83 researchers and enjoys close ties with the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM). The area contains 4 sub-groups led by principal investigators of the UAM (Pr. Ruiz Ortega, Pr. Gómez-Guerrero, Pr. Lorenzo, and Pr. Martín-Ventura).


The shared objective for this area is to gain a fuller understanding of the damage and repair mechanisms brought upon by kidney and urological disorders, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and diabetes. The scope of the area's research begins in childhood and seeks to identify new molecules with potential for diagnostic purposes or as therapy targets for patent development and subsequent clinical application. Within this shared objective, each group and sub-group focuses on certain cellular and molecular aspects (e.g., fibrosis, inflammation, apoptosis, transcription factors, intracellular signaling, cytokines, the renin-angiotensin system, etc.), particular pathologies (e.g., atherothrombosis, myocardiopathy or diabetic nephropathy, glomerular disease, acute renal failure, nephrotoxicity, renal fibrosis, etc.), or certain techniques such as transcriptomics, proteomics, molecular imaging, etc. The sharing of knowledge and techniques helps accelerate the discoveFoto2Foto2ry process. A number of national and international partnerships are in place, including some within the IDC Group and the hospital itself; the work done by these groups spans pathology, hematology, medical oncology, clinical biochemistry, infectious diseases, immunology, microbiology, rheumatology, orthopedics and orthopedic surgery, bone and mineral metabolism, gastrointestinal surgery, and intensive care medicine.


Challenges for the future:


  • Search for new biomarkers of cardiovascular risk and new biomarkers to be used in diagnosis, staging, and monitoring of kidney damage, so that they may be marketed.
  • Research into new therapy targets in cardiovascular and kidney disease
  • Effects of pharmacological and dietary treatment in the development of metabolic syndrome
  • Epidemiological studies of metabolic diseases
  • Identify new targets and possible therapy agents in metabolic disease
  • Genetic studies in growth-related metabolic disease and disorders of pubertal development



Research Groups

  • Cardiology
  • Nephrology, vacular pathology, hypertension and Diabetes
  • Lipid metabolism pathology: Clinical and experimental (adults and children)
  • Urology

Associated Group


  • Cardiac and Vascular surgery