Constancio Medrano, new scientific director of the Gregorio Marañón Health Research Institute

Constancio Medrano has been appointed the new scientific director of the Health Research Institute of Hospital Gregorio Marañón (IiSGM). Dr Medrano is currently head of the Pediatric Cardiology Service and coordinator of the Children’s Heart Area at the Madrid centre, and president of the Spanish Society of Pediatric Cardiology and Congenital Heart Disease (SECPCC), as well as being responsible for coordinating the hospital’s CSURs in the field of paediatric cardiology. In teaching, he is also an associate professor of paediatrics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM).

With advanced training in management and innovation at IE Business School, King’s Business School and the MIT Sloan School of Management, he trained as a resident in Paediatrics and Paediatric Cardiology at Gregorio Marañón. Since then, he has developed his career in parallel across the clinical, teaching, research and management fields. To date, Dr Medrano has also worked within the IiSGM as head of the paediatric cardiology and paediatric heart transplant research group since its creation.

His experience since the creation of the IiSGM, first as a member and currently as secretary of the Research Committee and coordinator of training programmes, has given him an in-depth knowledge of the institution and its researchers. He has also actively participated in organising research and innovation conferences, training courses and the creation of scientific projects and structures such as the maternal and child research support unit (UDIMIFFA).

As the new scientific director of Marañón, he will seek to consolidate and expand the institution’s track record as a benchmark for excellence in research and innovation. The objectives he is pursuing at this stage include improving patient and public participation; developing talent and leadership; promoting advanced and disruptive technologies and therapies, artificial intelligence and 3D printing; collaborating with the health innovation ecosystem by expanding international networks and strategic partnerships; and providing advanced training with innovative teaching technologies, including simulation.

“All of this with a clear focus on ensuring that scientific activity is a high-quality public service that stimulates professionals, improves patients’ lives and has an impact on society as a whole,” explains Medrano.