The Tobacco Control Unit has participated in the II Young Scientific Personnel Conference 2026 of the Center for Online Biomedical Research (CIBER) , held from May 27 to 29 in El Escorial, in a meeting that has served to strengthen collaborations in research on prevention and the promotion of smoke-free spaces.
Esteve Fernandez , head of the CIBERES research group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute Foundation (IDIBELL), and Manuel Badino , predoctoral researcher, took part in these meetings. It should be noted that a large part of the Tobacco Control Unit team is part of the CIBERES group, which reinforces its role within this leading state consortium.
CIBER, dependent on the Carlos III Health Institute, is the main public health research consortium in Spain, with more than 450 research groups linked to a network of around 120 institutions, including hospitals, universities and research centres. This structure makes it a strategic actor for the Unit, also in its role as a collaborating centre of the World Health Organisation in tobacco control.
During the conference, Esteve Fernandez participated as a speaker in the plenary session “Strategies for prevention and early detection of diseases” , where he highlighted the need to incorporate prevention as a central focus of research projects. He also shared strategies for communication and scientific dissemination, aimed at both public policy makers and citizens, based on his experience in the field of tobacco prevention and control.
For his part, Manuel Badino presented the results of a systematic review on the use of objective markers to assess passive exposure to tobacco smoke in outdoor spaces . In addition, he participated in training activities, workshops and collaborative project development initiatives with other young researchers from CIBER.
This participation consolidates the Tobacco Control Unit’s commitment to public health research and the promotion of effective policies to reduce exposure to tobacco smoke.
