History

With Dr. Josep Esteve i Soler serving as president and Dr. Sergi Erill serving as scientific director, the Foundation undertook its mission, taking as a reference Britain’s CIBA Foundation, characterized by Lord William Henry Beveridge as a “meeting place for scientists”. The Foundation organized its first international symposium, bringing together outstanding researchers from all over the world to discuss subjects such as drugs’ protein binding. This event marked the beginning of a series of international symposiums that would go on to explore diverse areas of pharmacology in following years.

The Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation established the Research Award to recognize the best pharmacology research article published by Spanish authors in an international journal. The first award went to researchers in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of the Basque Country’s School of Medicine for their article about antidepressants published in the British Journal of Pharmacology. So far, the Award has recognized 17 papers by researchers from centers all over Spain.

The Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation launched its first webpage on the internet, an Important development in its mission of disseminating scientific knowledge and facilitating interaction between the scientific community and the general public. Our webpage has continually evolved, enabling downloads of the Foundation’s publications free of charge and facilitating enrollment in the wide range of activities that it organizes.

The Foundation organized its first course aiming to provide young researchers with training in essential skills for research that often receive little attention in official study programs. These training sessions have dealt with matters such as applying for grants, writing scientific articles, and communicating with the media in more than 275 courses carried out in Catalonia, other regions of Spain, and abroad, training more than 7,600 professionals and consolidating the Foundation’s commitment to strengthening research skills.

The first Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation notebook was published. The notebooks are a collection of books that treat diverse subjects related to research and the dissemination of science. With more than 50 titles published to date, this collection offers a fascinating vision of medicine and science, from the impact of TV series to the role of women in twentieth century biomedicine. All the notebooks are available free of charge through the Foundation’s webpage www.esteve.org.

Together with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the public television network (RTVE), the Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation organized the course “Scientists in front of the media”. More than 500 researchers have been trained in over 20 editions of this course to facilitate collaboration between scientists and journalists in disseminating scientific research.

The year of its 35^th anniversary, the Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation updated its institutional image, celebrating its trajectory and contribution to pharmacological research with a new, more accessible webpage.

The Foundation continues its work through the pandemic, organizing the online debate “Impatient science” to analyze the challenges faced and errors committed during the COVID-19 crisis. The event benefits from the participation of experts from the areas of pharmacology, publishing, and scientific communication.

The Foundation opens a new chapter in its history by fostering research into advanced therapies, thus consolidating its commitment to innovation and scientific progress.