Research and training

Promoting research

Our vocation involves the pioneering and safe application of the latest techniques and discoveries in the field of ophthalmology, but also to participate in their development. The IMO’s scientific pedigree comes from the extensive research experience it has gained since the 1980s. In this time, the IMO has participated in many international clinical trials, in which it was the only Spanish research centre involved.

“We increasingly have more resources available to treat eye diseases that, until recently, were incurable. Our priority now is to detect them in their early stages or even before they appear.”

Dr Roser Gonzalez, a genetics specialist at the IMO

New research projects

In 2009, we began a new phase that highlighted our commitment to carrying out genetic research and culminated in the creation of the IMO Foundation, which will function as a vehicle for our growing scientific work. Genetic diagnosis, as a complement to clinical diagnosis, is an important service that the IMO provides through the joint efforts of ophthalmologists, biologists, physicists and geneticists.

“The Foundation will enable us to carry out research into the cellular mechanisms that cause certain processes which affect vision and enhance our knowledge of various therapeutic targets.”

Dr Jose Garcia-Arumi, a retina and vitreous specialist at the IMO and president of the IMO Foundation

Contributing to the training of future ophthalmologists

We promote the training of future specialists through the IMO and the University of Barcelona’s Continuous Training Programme, which includes five master’s programmes in different ophthalmic subspecialties and three postgraduate courses in nursing, photography and optometry. Dr Borja Corcostegui is also the driving force behind the European School for Advanced Studies in Ophthalmology (ESASO), the first European centre for advanced training in ophthalmology, based in Lugano (Switzerland).

“Thanks to the excellent training I received before and during my stay at the IMO, I managed to find work quite quickly at the hospital where I had always wanted to practise.”

Dr Hernan Gras, a retina and vitreous specialist at the Centro Vision in Mendoza, Argentina, and former student at the IMO