In November, the CaixaResearch Conference ‘Overcoming Covid-19 and preparing for the future’ was held online to assess what had been learned from the pandemic, what current tools and technology are available and how to be more prepared for new infections in the future.

The event, led by the Institut de Salut Global de Barcelona (ISGlobal) and the Institut de Recerca de la Sida IrsiCaixa and promoted by the ”la Caixa” Foundation and Biocat, took place over two days (November 16 and 17, 2021) with various conferences and panel discussions. The first day focused on tools developed to combat COVID-19 and the unprecedented resources mobilized for research, while the second day was mainly about the strategies to implement to prevent another pandemic like this one, One Health and the need for global equity. In total, more than 1,400 people signed up for the conference.

Some of the most noteworthy speakers taking part in the conference included María Neira, director of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organization (WHO); Adolfo García-Sastre, virologist at the Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, US; Daniel Prieto-Alhambra, professor of pharmaco-epidemiology at Oxford University; Nathalie Strub-Vergouft, director of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) initiative and the COVID-19 committee at The Lancet; Miguel Luengo-Oroz, chief data scientist for UN Global Pulse, the United Nations initiative to apply big data and AI to sustainable development and humanitarian actions; and Carmen Cabezas, secretary of Public Health for the Government of Catalonia.

Plus, some innovative projects related to pandemics and infectious diseases got the chance to pitch to a group of investors. A panel of experts chose the finalists, who met with investors. This initiative was an opportunity to debate, network and take part in an unprecedented science event.