In May 2025, Daniel Martínez Laguna became the new coordinator of the Barcelona Research Support Unit (USR), replacing Miguel Ángel Muñoz. Martínez is a family doctor at CAP Sant Martí, a centre he led until taking on this new role. He continues to see patients there two days a week, saying that this keeps him grounded and fuels his curiosity to keep learning. In this interview, he reflects on the state of research in primary care and shares his vision for the unit.
What’s your assessment of your first few months leading the USR?
I’ve been part of the USR for years, so I know it well. I see my role as coordinator as secondary –I’m here to support the research groups, who are the real protagonists. That said, beyond the consolidated groups, I get the sense that there’s less and less research happening in primary care centres (CAPs), and I think we need to bring back a culture of research from the ground up. The research groups are ageing, and we’re not bringing in enough new people. If this continues, the time will come when there are no new researchers.
What do you mean by reviving research from the ground up?
It means sparking curiosity and critical thinking among professionals so that, as they go about their daily work, they can ask questions that eventually turn into research projects.
Isn’t that already being encouraged?
No, not enough. If you go to a conference, most of what’s presented are clinical case reports, and there are very few research projects –and the ones that are presented are highly sophisticated. In the past, there were far more projects coming from everyday clinical questions that arose during consultations. Of course, research is voluntary and adds to professionals’ workload. There are support mechanisms, such as grants from ICS and IDIAPJGol or funding from Barcelona Primary Care, which allow some professionals to free up time for research, which is great, but it’s not enough.
Why is this happening more now than before?
Many professionals now assume that if something isn’t part of their clinical duties, it shouldn’t be done. There’s a generational factor: people today have a different perspective on what their role involves, and they don’t see research as a core part of our profession. But we forget that all healthcare professionals are scientists, and research is part of the healthcare vocation.
Another issue is that the centralisation of research within teaching units has led to fragmented projects that often begin and end with a single resident. When I was a resident, there were research lines that continued regardless of who joined them. That’s much less common now. Within teaching units, the tutor plays a crucial role in awakening residents’ interest in research. If tutors aren’t doing research themselves and just go through the motions of supervising the mandatory activities, it’s hard to foster real engagement.
Solving this situation would require a cultural shift, which is always hard to achieve.
It’s true that cultural change is difficult, but when you talk to people, you realise that many aren’t even aware of the research that’s happening. One thing the USR can do is act as a communicator, as a facilitator. Right now, we’re gathering information on everything that’s being done. We want to create a research map of the work being carried out by professionals in the Barcelona Primary Care Directorate. We’ve started with teaching centres, as they tend to have the strongest research culture.
Do you think professionals are familiar with the USR and, more broadly, with IDIAPJGol?
A couple of years ago, we conducted a survey and found that the USR wasn’t well known. People knew it existed, but not what it did, they weren’t aware of our portfolio of services. As for IDIAP, it’s known, but only in a general sense. It’s seen mainly as a grant-giving organisation and not much more.
What other areas would you like to strengthen through the USR?
We want to review the research training we’re offering. We plan to develop a specific training programme for PhD students. Another priority is improving visibility and dissemination. The Barcelona USR is one of the most productive units, but that’s not widely known. My aim is to let what already works continue as it is, uncover research being done independently of formal groups, and identify new lines of inquiry.
What are the main strengths of the research conducted at the Barcelona USR?
Our research is very diverse. Some groups focus on epidemiology, others on qualitative research, which brings a different perspective… I think our strength lies in that variety, in terms of both topics and methodology.
The Mental Health Research Group in Barcelona recently merged with the group from Tarragona-Reus. Collaborations between regions are not very common. Do you think these kinds of partnerships should be promoted? How?
Yes, we should encourage them, but they often depend more on personal relationships than institutional strategies. A few years ago, there was a strong push to foster collaboration between groups, but it’s hard to make that happen. Maybe we could require collaborative projects to access certain types of funding.
You’re the principal investigator of the Musculoskeletal Research Group (GREMPAL). What are you working on right now?
We’re continuing with our main research line, which is osteoporosis. Right now, one of our PhD students is doing her thesis on osteoporosis drugs in patients with diabetes, an example of cross-group collaboration. We also have ideas for new projects, like a study on the effects of vitamin D supplements in people with osteoporosis and in the general population. Some believe everyone should be taking vitamin D to prevent fractures, and we want to assess whether that’s really necessary.
A few years ago, we also launched a line of research on gout, led by Maria Antònia Pou, which is producing very promising results. We’re currently studying the links between gout and cardiovascular disease, as well as with diabetes. Another of our research lines focuses on the safety of opioids used to treat chronic non-cancer pain, which is mostly caused by musculoskeletal conditions.
What is your overall view of IDIAPJGol?
If IDIAP didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it. That phrase isn’t mine, but I completely agree with it. It makes it much easier for primary care professionals to engage in research. To be competitive, you need support, and the institute has a highly skilled team that helps you identify calls for proposals, secure funding, and disseminate the research you’re doing. We have a CEIm (Ethics Committee for Research with Medicines) that is the envy of others, and a very strong innovation team… IDIAPJGol is unique in Spain, the only centre of its kind fully focused on primary care. The quality of our research is just as high as that carried out in hospitals. All that’s left is for us to believe it.
