A scientific infrastructure physically connected to the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona, which groups together six public research centres closely coordinated with one another: the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), the Experimental and Health Sciences Department of Pompeu Fabra University (CEXS-UPF), the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Centre of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona (CMRB), the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), the Pasqual Maragall Foundation (FPM), the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE:CSIC-UPF) and a branch of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. It is the result of an initiative of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona City Council and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), and constitutes one of the largest centres of biomedical research in southern Europe.